Fairy tales

FAIRY TALES
HEFIBENCE

NY PUBLIC LIBRARY .THE BRANCH LIBRARIES

3 3333 08125 1619

^^

/

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2007 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/fairytalesOOande

FAIRY TALES.

BY

HANS CHRISTIAI^I ANDERSEN.

A NEW TRANSLATION.

ILLUSTRATED.

^ITH OVER TWO HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS BY HARRISON WEIR
V. TEDERSEN, M, L. STOIJE, A. W. BAYES, AND OTHERS.

NEW YORK :
I?. WORTHINGTON, PUBLISHER.

Copyright, 1 884, by R. WORTHINGTON,

^-a

PROPERTY OF THE
CITY OF NEW YOai

FHT/dS^

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.

Life of Andersen.

Hans Chktstia:?^ Andersen was the
only child of poor parents. He was born
at Odense, on the island of Funen, on th(i
2d of April, 1805. The town of Odense
has been immortalized by Andersen In one
of his tales, ''The Bell-Deep/' which is

LIFE OF ANDER8EN.

no doubt founded on a legend he had been
acquainted with from his childhood.

Hans Andersen's father was a shoemaker,
who, it is said, had not the means of giv-
ing him much education, but he sent him
to the grammar school in the town, and
the boy's natural abilities and love of read-
ing made him take advantage of the in-
struction he there received. Not, however,
for long; his father's death, in 1814, left
his mother a sorrowing widow, in poor cir-
cumstances, with an orphan boy of nine
years. It therefore became necessary for
him to leave school, and try to help his
mother in earning a home for them both.
An opportunity for him to work at a fac-
tory in the town was offered to his mother,
and eagerly accepted by her, and for some
years he worked as a factory boy.

There was something, however, so differ-
ent in the coarse and illiterate workmen at
the factory, to the refined and tender-
hearted child, that his patient sufferings of
their taunts and torments must have been
terrible to bear. At last he complained to
his mother, and she removed him. An

LIFE OF ARDERSEK.

opening for tlie youth, now in Lis four-
teenth year, to become a tailor presented
itself; but the boy of intellectual tastes
implored his mother, even with tears, to
allow him to choose his own career in
life. His mother at last consented, and
with a small sum of money in his pocket,
he left his home to travel to Copenhagen
alone.

Who can tell how much of a mother's
love and pride in her son gave her the
courage to part with him, and to utter a
farewell which cost her so much ? No doubt
she already looked forward to a glorious
future for her imaginative child, who most
probably inherited from her the refined
and poetic fancy which in after years made
him so famous.

Her fancies, indeed, had a tinge of the
superstition still holding sway in the land
of the Norsemen ; and, strange to say, she
looked forward to a time when her son
should revisit his native town, and Odense
would be illuminated in his honor. This
really happened many years afterwards,
when the great poet and author, covered

LIFE OF ANDFBSEN,

witli glory and fame, entered the town of
his birth.

And now the boy of fourteen was
launched on the ocean of life to seek for
that renown which only became his after
years of disappointment and trial. How
little he was appreciated in the great city
was well known. From early childhood
his keen susceptibility to the emotions of
joy or sorrow made them sometimes over-
powering. At nine years of age he had
laughed at a comedy, or wept at a
tragedy performed on the stage by mar-
ionettes ! and in after years, the real,
living actors would move him with equal
power.

On his arrival at Co23enhagen, he met
with a friend in one of the professors at
the University, and as the boy was fond
of music, he proposed that Andersen should
learn to sing on the stage. But this effort
failed, for the boy's voice, though harmon
ious, was thin and weak, and could not be
heard even at a moderate distance.

After some years of struggling to earn
a living, even while writing down the curi-

LIFE OF ANDERSEJSr,

ous thouglits with wliich his imagination
teemed, he determined to visit Germany; but
his friend had obtained for him instruction

THE FACTORY.

in Latin and German, which enabled him
to remain and to bring out in 1829 his first
work, a play entitled " The Life of a Nico-

LIFE OF ANDFRSEK

laton," whicli was very successful ; and in
the next year lie jDublislied his first story,
and soon after another — " Shadow Pict-
ures."

In 1832 he carried out his intention and
visited Germany, and here his books at
once obtained notice, which gave him
courage to continue the work he so loved,
wiih renewed zeal. During the years from
1832 to 1848 Andersen wrote his far-famed
works, a " Picture Book without Pictures ;"
" The Improvisatore ;" " He was only an
Actor;" "The Story of the Year," and sev-
eral others.

But the works that made him famous
were his " Fairy Tales," the first of which
appeared in 1838, while others so quickly
followed that they obtained for Hans
Andersen the name of "The Children's
Friend."

In the early part of Andersen's career,
he had been greatly pained, but not
daunted, by the severe and even mocking
criticisms which his writings received, in
Copenhagen especially.

The first to notice them were the editors

LIFE OF ANDERSEN.

of comic periodicals, and in these they were
criticised and made a mock of, often with
a want of delicacy most painful to the
sensitive author. By others his style was
pronounced to be intricate, confused, and
crude. At the same time, it was acknowl-
edged that the writer possessed great
power of language, and a remarkable rich-
ness of thought and imagination, rendering
the word-pictures his fancy drew too at-
tractive to be passed over unread.

One of Andersen's oldest friends was
Count Conrad of Eantzsan-Breitenburgh.
This gentleman, who had been Prime Min-
ister in the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein,
had given Andersen his first step as an
author, which the narrow limits of his own
poor dwelling rendered almost impossible.
The Count had, however, heard of him,
sought him out, and recognized at once
that the humble-minded young writer was
destined to become a popular poet and
author.

This was the turning point in Ander-
sen's career; the unkind criticisms referred
to had so disheartened him that he was

10 LIFE OF AXBFRSEN'.

tt^mpted to despair of success. The Count's
oj^iniou gave liim fresh courage and energy
for renewed efforts, which, as we now
know, brought him glory and fame.

When the Count left Copenhagen he did
not forget Andersen, but made him prom-
ise that at the first opportunity he would
come and visit him at Castle Breitenburgh.
The opportunity presented itself after some
years, and Andersen used to say that the
weeks and months of his stay at Castle
Breitenburgh, belonged to the most beau-
tiful period of his life, and truly he might
say this ; for Count Conrad, the owner
of the castle, was in the highest degree a
man calculated to arouse and console the
tender-hearted, poetic, and often sad spirit
of his guest.

Andersen was one of those clever men
who are totally devoid of vanity, and he
would often express in a straightforward
and touching manner his modest opinion
of his own talents, and yet at the same time
acknowledge how greatly he longed for
and needed encouragement. And all this
time within his soul, his thoughts were

LIFE OF ANDERSEN, ii

pressing full on his creative fancy which
he longed to send forth to the world, yet
dreaded with pain these adverse criticisms.
Not even in his old age, when he had been
recognized by the whole civilized world as
a poet and author, could Andersen harden
himself to treat with indifference the un-
just criticism of the most insignificant critic.

Count Conrad died in the year 1844,
while Andersen was in Germany, and the
loss of such a friend was to the poet very
great. And although he was now a popu-
lar author, and often invited by the Danish
and German nobility to visit them at their
castles, the memory of his first kind friend,
the owner of Breitenburgh Castle, held the
foremost place in his heart.

He was popular in Denmark now, al-
though his name as a story- writer was first
recognized by the common peo]3le, who
quickly appreciated and understood the
vein of simplicity which runs through every
page of Hans Andersen's tales. The char-
acters in these stories, whether of men or
animals, whether animate or inanimate,
became living, breathing creatures when he

12 LIFE OF AA^DFBSFN.

read liis stories aloud, for in spite of Lis
humble birth, his pronunciation of his
native language was pure, correct and noble.
While listening, it seemed not impossible
that the objects described might be beings
possessing souls, and the power of becom-
ing sad or joyous, sublime or ridiculous as
the author represented.

In the year 1845, King Christian YIIL,
of Denmark, placed a very pleasant shoot-
ins; box, situated in the thickest covert of
the magnificent park of Fredericksburg, at
the disposal of Hans Andersen, who had
been a widower for many years. This un-
used buildino^ was now named " Pheasant
Court ;" it had a large garden and was to be
used by the poet as his own for life.

It was about this time that Andersen
made a tour of the different countries of
Europe, and those who knew him person-
ally speak with delight of having met him
at dinner parties, and of the glowing
descriptions he would give of the places
he had visited, and the persons he had
met during his travels. Scottish scenery
charmed him, and he would speak of Sir

LIFE OF AKDEE8EN'.

13

Walter Scott and Robert Burns, to whom
he was introduced, in the most glowing
terms.

BREITENBURGH CASTLE.

14 LIFE OF ANDEBSFN.

Among his friends nearer home were
the two renowned Swedish ladies, " Fred-
erika Bremer, and Jenny Lind," both- of
whom had a touching sisterly affection for
the poet.

His love of flowers was a poet's love of
the beautiful, and even from the first ap-
pearance of that decay of nature which
was to remove him at last from earth, he
would have fresh flowers in his room
daily, often remarking on their beauty and
fragrance.

In 1872, Andersen had suffered from a
severe illness while visiting at Rolighed,
the country residence of a merchant named
Melchior. Finding himself, as he thought,
better, he returned home, but was still
obliged to keep in his room.

In the spring of 1873 he traveled to
Switzerland, and there went through a
course of goat's milk, among the mountains
at Glion, on the lake of Geneva. He there
became so much better and stronger that
he was able to take long drives, and re-
turned to his home full of hope that his
health was quite restored. But this hope

LIFE OF ANDERSEN, 15

soon faded, and in the spring of 1875 it
became evident that his days were num-
bered. But he was not forsaken by his
friends. Frau Melchior watched over him
with tender care, and as the summer passed
and he became weaker, she had him removed
to their country house, Rolighed.

The king came to visit him many times,
and the crown prince much oftener, and he
was also visited fiequently by men and
women of high position. Not only were
his last days brightened by these atten-
tions, but from his own hoj^ef ul and poetical
character.

Days passed, and as he grew weaker he
was greatly comforted by the tender care
that surrounded him, and while talking with
his visitors he would often cut out and paste
together a little figure in which the poetic
art would show itself, even as in his fairy
tales the charm of the characters introduced
would represent his own poetic imagination.

Hans Christian Andersen died August
4th, 1875, at the age of 70. He had on that
day been sleeping peacefully for some hours
and at about eleven o'clock at. night Frau

16

LIFE VF AJSTDEBSEK

Melchior left the bedside for a moment,
and wlien she returned, after scarcely two
minutes absence, he was dead.

."^

"^^'^.^

:^r'.^' ^^

ANDERSEN'S MONUMENT.

ANJ):^IiSi:J\^'S FAIRY TALES, 17

High up on the steep shore, and not far
from the open sea, stood a very old oak
tree. It was just three hundred and sixty-
five years old, but that was to the tree as
the same number of days might be to us.
We wake by day and sleep by night. It is

18 AJS^BERSEN^'S FAIRY TALES.

different with the tree ; it is obliged to
keep awake through three seasons of tlie
year, and does not get any sleep till winter
comes. Winter is its time for rest — its
night after the long day of spring, summer,
and autumn. On many a warm summer,
the flies, that exist only for a day, had
fluttered about the old oak, enjoyed life
and felt happy ; and if, for a moment, one
of the tiny creatures rested on one of his
large, fresh leaves, the tree would always
say, " Poor little creature ! your whole life
consists only of a single day. How very
short. It must be quite melancholy."

" What do you mean ?" the little creature
would reply. ^' Everything around me is
so wonderfully bright and beautiful, that
it* makes me joyous."

^^But only for one day, and then it is
all over."

" Over," repeated the fly ; "what is the
meaning of that ? Are you all uver, too ?"

"ISTo ; I shall very likely live for thou-
sands of your days."

"Then I don't understand you. You
may have thousands of my days, but I

ARBERSEJ^'S FAIRY TALES. 19

have thousands of moments in which I can
be merry and happy. We have the same
time to live, only w^e reckon differently."
And the little creature danced and floated
in the air and was very happy. When the
sun sank low, it felt tired. Its wings could
sustain it no longer, and gently and slowly

it glided down upon the soft, waving
blades of grass, nodded its little head as
well as it could nod, and slept peacefully
and sweetly. The fly was dead.

" Poor little fly !" said the oak ; " what a
terribly short life !" And so, on every
summer day the dance was repeated, the
same questions asked, and the same

20 ANDERSEJ^'S FAIRY TALES.

answers given. The same thing was re-
peated through many generations of flies.

The oak remained awake throuo'h the
morning of spring, the noon of summer,
and the evening of autumn ; its time of
rest drew nigh — winter was coming, and
at last it fell asleep.

It was just about Christmas time that
the tree dreamed a dream. All that had
happened during every year of his life
seemed to pass before him, as in a festive
procession. Then it seemed as if new life
was thrilling through every fibre of root
and stem and leaf. The tree felt itself
stretching and spreading out, while through
the root ran the warm vigor of life. As
he grew highei' and still higher, with in-
creased strength, his self-satisfaction in-
creased, and with it arose a Joyous longing
to grow higher and higher, to reach even
to the warm, bright sun itself. Already
had his topmost branches pierced the
clouds, which floated beneath them like
large white swans. The stars became
visible in broad daylight, large and spark-
ling, like clear and gentle eyes. These

AN^JDEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 21

were wonderful and happy moments for
the old tree, full of peace and joy ; and
yet, amidst all this happiness, the tree felt
a yearning, longing desire that all the
other trees, bushes, herbs and flowers be-
neath him, might be able also to rise
hio'her, as he had done, and to see all this
splendor, and experience the same happi-
ness. At length his longing was satisfied.
Up through the clouds came the green
summits of the forest trees, and beneath
him, the oak saw them rising, and growing
higher and higher. Bush and herb shot
upwai'd, and some even tore themselves up
by the roots to rise more quickly. Every
native of the wood, even to the brown and
feathery rushes, grew with the rest, while
the birds ascended with the melody of
song. On a blade of grass, that fluttered
in the air like a long gieen libbon, sat a
grasshopper, cleaning his wings.

" But where is the little blue flower that
grows by the water?" asked the oak, "and
the purple bell-flower and the daisy ?"

" Here we ai'e, here we are," sounded in
voice and song.

22 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIBT TALES.

" But the beautiful thyme of last summer,
where is that ? and the lilies-of-the-valley,
which last year covered the earth with their
bloom ? and the wild apple-tree, with its
lovely blossoms, and all the glory of the
wood, which has flourished year after year ?"

'^We are here, we are here," sounded
voices higher in the air.

" Why this is beautiful, too beautiful to
be believed," said the oak, in a joyous tone.

And the old tree, as he still grew up-
wards and onwards, felt that his roots
were loosening themselves from the earth.

"It is right, it is best," said the tree,
" no fetters hold me now. I can ily up to
the very highest point in light and glory.
And all I love — all are here."

Such was the dream of the old oak;
and while he dreamed, a mighty storm
came rushing over land and sea, at the
holy Christmas time. There was a crack-
ing and crushing heard in the tree. The
root was torn from the ground just when
he fancied it was beinor loosened from the

o

earth. He fell — his three hundred and
sixty-five years were passed as the single

AISFDEESEN-'S FAIRY TALES. 2g

day of tlie flies. On tlie morning of
Christmas-clay, wlien tlie sun rose, the
storm had ceased. "The tree is down!
The old oak — our landmark on the coast !"
exclaimed the sailors.

24 AJSTDERSEX'S FAIRY TALES.

The Little Mermaid.

The Sea King had been a widower for
many years, and his old mother kept house
for him in the paL^xe at the bottom of the
sea. He had six beautiful daughters, and
the youngest was the most beautiful of
them all. Her skin was as clear and deli-
cate as a rose leaf, and her eyes as blue as
the deepest sea ; but, like all the others,
she had no feet, and her body ended in a
tail, like a fish.

At last she reached her fifteenth birth-
day. So she said, " Farewell," and rose as
lightly as a bubble to the surface of the
water. The sun had just set, as she raised her
head above the waves. The sea was calm,
and the air mild and fresh. A large ship,

AJS^B^RSiEK'fi FAIlxY TALES. 25

with three masts, lay becalmed on the water,
with only one sail set ; for not a breeze
stirred, and the sailors sat idle on deck or
amongst the rigging. There was music and
song on board ; and, as darkness came on,
a hundred colored lanterns were lighted, as
if the flags of all nations waved Id the air.
The little mermaid swam close to the cabin
windows ; and now and then, as the waves
lifted her up, she could look in through
clear glass window panes, and see a num-
ber of well-dressed people within. Among
them was a young prince, the most beauti-
ful of all, with large black eyes; he was
sixteen years of age, and his birthday was
being kept with much rejoicing. The
sailors were dancing on deck, but when
the prince came out of the cabin, more than
a hundred rockets rose in the air, making it
as bright as day. The little mermaid was so
startled that she dived underwater; and
when she again stretched out her head, it
appeared as if all the stars of heaven were
falling around her. She had never seen
such fireworks before.

After a while, the sails were quickly un-

26 AKDERSEN'S FAIBY TALES.

furled, and the noble ship continued her
passage; but soon the waves rose higher,
heavy clouds darkened the sky, and light-
ning appeared in the distance. The waves
rose mountains high, as if they would have
overtopped the mast. To the little mer-
maid this appeared pleasant sport ; not so
to the sailors. At length the ship groaned
and creaked; the thick planks gave way
under the lashing of the sea as it broke
over the deck; the mainmast snapped asun-
der like a reed ; the ship lay over on her
side, and the water rushed in. The mer-
maid now perceived that the crew were in
danger; even she herself was obliged to be
careful to avoid the beams and planks of
the wreck which lay scattered on the
water. At one moment it was so pitch
dark that she could not see a single object,
but a flash of lio^htnino; revealed the whole
scene ; she could see every one who had
been on board excepting the prince.
When the ship parted, she had seen him
sink into the deep waves, and she was
glad, for she thought he would now be
with her; and then she remembered that

AmJEBSJEJN-'S FAIRY TALES. 2V

Imman beings could not live in the water,
so that when he got down to her father's
palace he would be quite dead. But he
must not die. So she dived deeply under
the dark waters, rising and falling with
the waves, till at length she managed to
reach the young prince. She held his head
above the water, and let the waves drift
them where they would.

In the morning the storm had ceased;
but of the ship not a single fragment
could be seen. The sun rose up red and
glowing from the water, and its beams
brouo-ht back the hue of health to the
prince's cheeks; but his eyes remained

28 AJSTDEESEK'S FAIRY TALES.

closed. The mermaid kissed his high,
smooth forehead, and stroked back his wet
hair. Presently they came in sight of land.
The sea here formed a little bay, in which
the water was quite still, but very deep ;
so she swam Avith the handsome prince to
the beach, which was covered mth iine,
white sand, and there she laid him in the
warm sunshine. The little mermaid swam
out from the shore and placed herself
between some high rocks that rose out of
the water ; then she covered her head and
neck with the foam of the sea, so that her
little face might not be seen, and watched
to see what would become of the poor
prince. She did not wait long before she
saw a young girl approach the spot where
he lay. She seemed frightened at first,
but only for a moment ; then she fetched
a number of people, and the mermaid saw
that the prince came to life again, and
smiled upon those who stood round him.
But to her he sent no smile ; he knew not
that she had saved him. This made her
unhappy, and when he was led away into
the great building, she dived down sorrow-

AKBEBSEK'S FAIBY TALES.

29

fully into tlie water, and returned to lier
father's castle. Slie liad always been silent
and thoughtful, and now she was more so.

"If human beings are not drowned," asked
the mermaid, " can they live for ever ? do
they never die as we do here in the sea ?"

30 AN'nERSEN"S FAIRY TALES,

" Yes/' replied the old lady, " tliey must
also die, and tlieir term of life is even shorter
tlian ours. We sometimes live to three
hundred years, but when we cease to exist
here we only become the foam on the sur-
face of the water, and we have not even a
grave down here of those we love. We have
not immortal souls, we shall never live
again ; but, like the green sea-weed, when
once it has been cut off, we can never flour-
ish more. Human beings, on the contrary,
have a soul which lives for ever, after the
body has been tmned to dust. But if a
man were to love you so much that you
were more to him than his father or mother ;
and if all his thoughts and all his love were
fixed upon you, and the priest placed his
right hand in yours, and he promised to be
true to you here and hereafter, then his
soul would glide into your body and you
would obtain a share in the futm'e happi-
ness of mankind.

And then the little mermaid went out
from her garden, and took the road to the
foaming whirlpools, behind which the sor-
ceress lived.

ANDERSEN'\S FAIRY TALES. 31

" I know what you want," said tlie
sea witcli; "it is very stupid of you,

but you shall have your way, and it
will bring you to sorrow, my pretty ^vm.-
cess. I A\dll prepare a di'auglit for you,

32 ANDERSEN'S EAIRY TALES,

witli wliicli you must swim to land to-
morrow before sunrise, and sit down on the
shore and drink it. Your tail will then
disappear, and shrink up into what man-
kind call legs ; and you will feel great pain,
as if a sword were passing through you.
But all who see you will say that you are
the prettiest little human being they ever
saw. You will still have the same floating
gracefulness of movement, and no dancer
will ever tread so lightly ; but at every step
you take it will feel as if you were treading
upon sharp knives, and that the blood must
flow ; and you must give me your voice."

It all happened as the witch said. The
prince found her on the shore, and took
her to the palace. She w^as very soon
aiTayed in costly robes of silk and muslin,
and was the most beautiful creature in
the palace ; but she was dmnb, and could
neither speak nor sing.

Finally, the prince was going to be mar-
ried to the princess of a neighboring
country. When he arrived there in his ship
the church bells were ringing, and from
the high towers sounded a flourish of

34 AJ^DERSU.Y'S FATRY TALES,

trumpets; and soldiers, with flyiug colors
and glittering bayonets, lined tlie roads
tlirougli wMeli they passed.
^ The little mermaid kissed his hand, and
felt as if her heart were already broken.
His weddino: mornino^ would biina; death tc
her, and she would chano;e into foam.

After the wedding they all went on boai'd
the ship to rest. The little mermaid leaned
her white arms on the edge of the vessel,
and looked towards the east for the first
ray of the daAvn which was to be her death.
She saw her sisters rising out of the flood.

" We have given our hair to the witch,"
said they, " to obtain help for you, that you
may not die to-night. She has given us a
knife : hei'e it is — see, it is very shai-p.
Before the sun rises you must plunge it
into the heart of the prince ; when the
warm blood falls upon your feet they will
grow together again, and form into a fish's
tail, and you mil be once more a mermaid."

The little mermaid droAV back the crim-

. son curtain of the couch, and beheld the

fair bride with her head resting upon the

prince's bieast. She bent down and kissed

ANDERSEN'S FAIET TALES. 36

his fair brow, tlien looked at the sky ou
which the rosy dawn grew brighter and
brighter; then she glanced at the knife,
and again fixed her eyes on the prince.
Then she threw the knife into the sea and
plunged in herself. When she opened her
eyes, she found herself surrounded by
beautiful beino^s like ansrels.

" AVhere am I ? " asked she.

" Amono' the dauj
answered one of them.

"Among the daughters of the air,"

The Wild Swans.

In a far-off land dwelt a king who had
eleven sons and one daughter named Eliza.
The king loved his children dearly, and
gave them everything that children can wish
for, and they were very happy. But this
was not always to last. The king mamed
a new wife, for the children's mother was
dead. The new Queen hated Eliza and her
eleven brothers, and resolved to get rid of
them. She was a wicked mtch, and she
said to the little princes : " Fly away like
great birds who have no voice." Then the
little princes were changed to eleven white

36 ANDERSEN'S FATRY TALES.

swans and they flew out of tlie palace mn-
(lows and away to tlie forest.

Then the wicked queen rubbed Eliza's
face with walnut juice and tangled her hair,
so that her father did not know her, and
was very cross and ugly. Only the watch-
dog and the swallows knew her, and they

could not speak a word. Then Eliza started
from the castle to find her brothers. She
reached a great wood, and soon lost her way.
"When night came, she lay do^\ai on the moss
and cried herself to sleep. AVhen it was
morninor she felt much better and resumed
iier journey. She came to a clear brook,

ANDERSEN'' S EAIRY TALES, 3^

and when slie saw lier I'eilection in it, slie
was horriiied at lier ugly appearance. When

she had bathed herself, however, she became
a beautiful little princess again.

When the sun was about to set, Eliza
saw eleven white swans mth golden cro^vns

38

AJSTBERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

on tlieir heads, flying towards tlie land, one
behind the other, like a long white ribbon.
The swans alighted quite close to her, and
flapped their great white wings. As soon
as the sun had disappeared under the water,
the feathers of the swans fell off, and eleven
beautiful princes, Eliza's brothers, stood
near her. She uttered a loud cry, for,
although they were very much changed,
she knew them immediately. She sprang
into their arms, and called them each by
name. Then how happy the princes were
at meeting their little sister again, for they

^^:

AJSTDERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES,

39

recognized Ler, altliougli slie liad grown so
tall and beautiful. "We brothers," said
tlie eldest, " fly about as wild swans, so
long as the sun is in the sky ; but as soon
as it sinks behind the hills, we recover our
human shape. We do not dwell here, but
in a land that lies beyond the ocean. We
are permitted to visit our home once every
year and to remain eleven days. To-
morrow our time is up, and w^e must go
back and remain for a whole year."

" Take me with you," begged Eliza. So
they spent the whole night, weaving a
strong net of rushes. In the morning Eliza
placed herself upon it ; the swans took it
in their beaks and away they flew, till

40 AN^DERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES.

they readied tlie land where the swans
lived^ and being very tired they all went to
sleep in a cave, on the floor of which the
over-grown, yet delicate, green creeping
plants looked like an embroidered carpet.
"Now we shall expect to hear what you
dream of to-night," said the youngest
brother, as he showed his sister her
bedroom.

"Heaven grant that I may dream how
to save you," she replied. And this
thought took such hold upon her mind
that she prayed earnestly to God for help,
and even in her sleep she continued to
pray. Then it appeared to her as if she
were flying high in the air, towards the
cloudy palace of the " Fata Morgana,", and
a fairy came out to meet her, and said :

" Your brothers can be released, if you
have only courage and perseverance. Do
you see the stinging nettle which I hold in
my hand ? Quantities of the same sort
grow round the cave in v^^hich you sleep,
but none others A\dll be of any use to you
unless they grow upon the graves in a
churchyard. These you must gather even

42 AJSTDERSEN'IS lAIEY TALES.

while they burn blisters on your hands.
Hreak them to pieces with your hands and
feet, and they will become flax, from ^\ hich
you must spin and weave eleven coats with
long sleeves ; if these are then thrown over
the eleven swans, the spell mil be broken.
But remember that from the moment you
commence your task until it is finished,
even should it occupy years of your life,
you must not speak. The first word you
utter will pierce through the hearts of
your brothers like a deadly dagger. Their
lives hang upon your tongue. Remember
all I have tokl you ? And as she finished
speaking, she touched her hand lightly
with the nettle, and a pain, as of burning
fire, awoke Eliza.

AVhen Eliza woke, it was broad daylight,
and she at once found some nettles and
began her task. One coat was finished and
the second began, when the King, who was
out huntino^, found her in the cave.

" How did you come here, my sweet
child ?" he asked. But Eliza shook her
head. She dared not speak, at the cost of
her brothers' lives. And she hid her hands

^' If

44 ANDERSEN'S tAIRY TALES.

under her apron, so that the king might not
see how she must be suffering.

^^ Come with me." he said : " here you
cannot remain. It you are as good as you
are beautiful, I will dress you in silk and
velvet, I will place a golden crown on your
head, and you shall dwell, and rale, and
make your home in my richest castle."
And then he lifted her on his horse. She
wept and wrung her hands, but the king
said : " I wish only your happiness. A time
will come when you will thank me for this."
And then he galloped away over the moun-
tains, holding her before him on his horse,
and the hunters followed behind them. On
arriving at the castle, the king led her into
marble halls, where large fountains played,
and where the walls and the ceilings were
covered with rich paintings. But she had no
eyes for all these glorious sights, she could
only mourn and weep. She had taken mth
her the coat and some Yiettles, and she con-
tinued her wGi;k. Th^3 bishop said she was
a witch, because she did not talk, but the
King did not listen to him. She had to go
to the graveyard ever j night for nettles, and

AJSTDEBSEJSr'S FAIRY TALES,

45

finally they all came to believe the bishop,
and the King consented that she should be
bnmed.

And now all the people came to see the
witch burned. An old horse drew the cart
on which she sat. They had dressed her
in a garment of coarse sackcloth. Her

lovely hair hung loose on her shoulders,
her cheeks were deadly pale, her lips
moved silently, while her fingei's still
worked at the green flax. Even on the
way to death she would not give up her
task. The ten coats of mail lay at her
feet, she was working hard at the eleventh,
while the mob jeered her and said : " See

46 AN'BERSEJST'S FAIR T TALES,

the witch, how she mutters ! She has no
hymn-book in her hand. She sits there
with her ugly sorcery. Let us tear it in a
thousand pieces."

And then they pressed towards her, and
would have destroyed the coats of mail,
but at the same moment eleven wild swans
flew over her, and alighted on the cart.
Then they flapped their large wings,
and the crowd drew on one side in
alarm.

As the executioner seized her by the
hand, to lift her out of the cart, she hastily
threw the eleven coats of mail over the
swans, and they immediately became eleven
handsome princes. But the youngest had a
swan's wing, instead of an arm ; for she
had not been able to finish the last sleeve.

^' Now I may speak," she exclaimed. " I
am innocent."

Then the people, who saw what hap-
pened, bowed to her, as before a saint ; but
she sank lifeless in her brothers' arms,
overcome with suspense, anguish, and pain.

" Yes, she is innocent," said the eldest
brother ; and then he related all that had

ANDERSEW'S FAIBY TALES. 47

taken place ; and while lie spoke there
rose in the air a fragrance as from millions
of roses. Every piece of fagot in the pile
had taken root, and threw ont branches,
and, above all, bloomed a white ilow^er that
glittered like a star. This flower the king
plucked, and placed in Eliza's bosom, when
she awoke from her swoon, with peace and
happiness in her heart. And all the church
bells rang of themselves, and the birds
came in great troops. And a marriage
procession returned to the castle, such as
no king had ever before seen.

48 ANDERS EJ^'S FAIBY TALES,

Thumbelina.

'TWmbelina was but half as big as your
tliamb. Slie was born in a tulip, and
had half of a walnut shell for a cradle.
Her bed was made of violet leaves, with a
pink robo leaf for a .counterpane. One

ARBEBSEN'S FAIRY TALEK 49

niglit, as slie lay sleeping, an ugl}- toad
cre]3t in and carried her oft* to make her
many her ugly son. The toad took her
to her home on the bank of a stream ; and
to keep her safe, she swam out and
placed her on a leaf of a water-lily far out
in the stream, while she went to pi epare a
room for her.

The little fishes, w^ho swam about in the
water beneath, had seen the toad, and heard
what she said, so they lifted their heads
above the water to look at the little
maiden. As soon as they caught sight of
her, they saw she was very pretty, and it
made them very sorry to think that she
must go and live with the ugly toads.

JO AJSTDERSJEJ^'S FAIRY TALES.

" No, it must never be !" so tliey assembled
together in the water, round the green stalk
which held the leaf on ^vhich the little
maiden stood, and gnawed it away at the
root with their teeth. Then the leaf
floated down the stream, carrying Tiny far
away to other lands.

A pretty buttei^y came past, and
Thumbelina tied her to the leaf with
her girdle, and the butterfly dragged
her swiftly along. A cockchafer saw
her, and seizing her around her slender
waist, flew away with her to his tree.
Then Thumbelina felt very sorry for
the poor buttei-fly tied to the leaf.
The cockchafer who took her away,
thought Thumbelina very pretty ; but all
the lady cockchafers turned up their noses
and said she looked too much like a human
beino; to be handsome. So the cockchafer
flew down from the tree with her, and put
her on a daisy, to let her go where she
pleased.

Daring the whole summer poor little
Tiny lived quite alone in the forest. She
wove herself a bed with blades of grass,

ANDERSEN'S FAIEY TALES. 51

and liiing it up under a broad leaf, to pro-
tect herself from the rain. She sucked the
honey from the flowers for food, and drank
the dew from their leaves every morning.
So passed aivay the summer and winter —
the long, cold winter. All the birds who
had sung to her so sweetly were flown
away, and the trees and flowers had

withered. The large clover leaf, under the
shelter of which she had lived, was now
rolled together and shrivelled up ; nothing
remained but a yellow withered stalk.
She felt dreadfully cold, for her clothes
were torn, and she ^vas herself so frail and
delicate, that poor little Tiny was nearly
frozen to death. She came at last to the

52 AN-DERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

door of a field-mouse, wlio had a little den
under tlie corn-stubble. There dwelt the
field-mouse in warmth and comfort, with a
whole roomful of corn. Poor little Tiny
stood before the door just like a beggar-
girl, and begged for a small piece of barley-
corn, for she had been without a morsel
to eat for two days.

" You poor little creature," said the field-
mouse, who was really a good old field-
mouse, " come into my warm room and
dine with me." She was very pleased with
Tiny, so she said : " You are quite welcome
to stay with me all the winter, if you like ;
but you must keep my room clean and
neat." And Tiny did all the field-mouse
asked her to do, and found herself very
comfortable.

An old, blind mole lived close by, and the
field-mouse said Thumbelina must be his
wife. One day, as they were all taking a
walk in one of the dark passages of the
mole, they came upon a swallow who seemed
to be dead, but when Thumbelina came back
to him, she found that he was only be-
numbed with the cold, so she covered him

AITDEBS^JST'S FAIRY TALES. 53

witli warm wool, till lie was restored. In tlie
spring, lie flew away. He wanted Thumb-
elina to go mtli liim, liut slie said it was
not riglit for lier to leave tlie good fleld-
mouse. AVlien it came winter ao:ain, slie
Yf as to many tlie old mole. All summer
lono: slie cried about it for slie did not like
the mole.

One day in the fall, slie sat moaning to her-
self, because the wedding was near, and then
she would have to live under ground with
the mole. " Oh, that I had gone off with
the swallow," said she. ''Tweet, tweet,"
.came a voice just over her head, and looking
up, she saw the swallow himself. He was
probably looking for her, and how pleased
he was when he saw her ! When she told
him about the coming wedding, he begged
her again to go away with him, and at last
she consented. She sat on his back and
away they went to his home far in the
south. When they came there he ]>laced
hex on a beautiful flower, which happened
to-be the home of the prince of all the
^flowers. When he saw Thumbelina, he
thouo-ht her the most beautiful maiden Vq

54 ANDEHSEIT'S FAIRY TALES.

had ever seen, and Avl/On lie asked lier to
marry liim slie willingly consented. Tliis
was mucli better tlian being the wife of i
toad or a mole.

The Story of the Year.

The snow covered the fields and the hills
and lay deep in the streets and lanes. It
whirled in the faces of travellers and fell in
great bunches from the housetops. Towai'd
evening it stopped snowing, paths were
cleared, and the sparrows came fluttering
forth in search of food. "Tweet, tweet,"
said one, " they call this a New Year, but
we might better have kept the old one."

AKDIJBSEJS^'S FAIHY TALES. 55

r asked

an-

"When will spring come
otlier.

" When tlie stork returns, but lie is very
uncertain, and liere in the city they know
nothing about him. We will fly away into
the countiy and look for spring."

And away they flew.

In the country it w^as really winter, a few
degrees colder than in the town. The shar23
winds blew over the snow-covered flelds.
The fanner, ^vrapped in warm clothing, sat
in his sleigh, and beat his arms across his
chest to keep off the cold. The horses ran

56 AS^nms^'s faihy taim.

till they smoked. Tlie snow crackled, tlie
sparrows hopped about in the wheel-ruts,
and shivered, crying : " Tweet, tweet ; when
will spiing come ? It is very long in com-
ing."^

" Very long, indeed," sounded over the
field, from the nearest snow-covered hill.
It might have been the echo which people
heard, or perhaps the words of that won-
derful old man, who sat high on a heap of
snow, regardle^ of wind or weather. He
was all in white. He had long, white hair,
a pale face, and large clear blue eyes. "Who
is that old man ?" asked the sparrows.

" I know who he is," said an old raven,
who sat on the fence. " It is Winter, the
old man of last year ; he is not dead yet, as
the calendar says, but acts as guardian to
little Prince Spring who is coming.

One week passed, and then another. The
forest looked dark, the hard-frozen lake lay
like a sheet of lead. Large black crows
flew about in silence ; it was as if natui'e
slept. At length a sunbeam glided over
the lake, and it shone like burnished silver.
The white form of Winter sat there still,

AN-PEESJSl^'S FAmr TALES. 67

with his unwandering gaze fixed on the
south. He did not perceive that the snowy
carpet seemed to sink, as it were, into the

earth ; that here and there a little green
patch of grass ap23eared, and that these
patches were covered with sparrows.

58 AJSTDJSJRSEN'S J^'AIBY^ TALES,
" Tee-wit, tee-wit ; is spring coming at

last r

Spring ! How the cry resounded over
field and meadow, and tlirougli tlie dark-
brown woods, wliere the fresh green moss
still gleamed on the trunks of the trees ; and
fi"om the south came the first two storks
fiying through the air, and on the back of
each sat a lovely little child, a boy and a
girl. They greeted the earth with a kiss,
and wherever they placed their feet white
flowers sprung up from beneath the snow.
Hand in hand they approached the old ice-
man. Winter, embraced him and clung to his
breast ; and as they did so, in a moment all
three were enveloped in a thick, damp
mist, dark and heavy, that closed over them
like a veil. The wind arose with mights-
rustling tone, and cleared away the mist.
Then the sun shone out warmly. Winter
had vanished away, and the beautiful chil-
dren of Spring sat on the throne.

Wherever the two children wandered
flowers sprang up and the birds sang.
They sat dov\'n on the green grass, and,
holding out each other's hands, they sang

AJSTDEBSEjST'S FAIMY tales, 59

and laughed and grew. Tlie gentle rain
fell on tliem, but it only made tliem hap-

pier. How beautiful everything was. Many
an old dame came forth and shuffled about

^ntli great deliglit to find everything grow-
:' ng again.

Days and weeks went by and tlie girl of
Bpring had become the wife of Summer.
The warm air waved the corn, as it grew
golden in the sun. The trees were laden
with fruit. Great clouds rolled across the
sky, and showers drenched the earth. At
last the fruits ripened and the nuts grew
brown on the trees. The scythes of the
reapers gleamed in the harvest fields. The
wife of Summer saw the storks fly over,
and she grew chilly, and wished to go back
with them to the land of her childhood.

The forest leaves became more and more
and more yellow, leaf after leaf fell, and
the stormy winds of Autumn howled.
Upon the fallen, yellow leaves, lay the
queen of the year, looking up with mild
eyes, and her husband stood by her. A
gust of wind swept through the foliage,
and the leaves fell in a shower. The sum-
mei' queen was gone, but a buttei-fly, the
last of the vear, flew throuo^h the cold air.
Damp fogs came, icy winds blew. The
ruler of the yeai' appeared with hair white

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, ^

as snow, but lie knew it not ; lie thought
snow-ilakes falling from the sky covered
his head, as they decked the green fields
with a thin, ^\ hite covering of snoAV. The
ice glittered, the snow crackled, and in the
still air old Winter clinched his fists.
Then came the sparrows again out of the
town and asked: "Who is that old man?"
The raven sat there still, or it might be his
son, and he answered :

" It is Winter. • He is watching for the
Spring, which is coming."

lb and Little Christina.

Ib's father was Jeppe Jans, and they
lived in the forest that extends along the
river Gudenan, in North Jutland. Jeppe
Jans cultivated his fields in summer, and
in the mnter he made wooden shoes. He
also had an assistant, a lad who understood
as well as he himself did how to make
wooden shoes strong, but light, and in the
fashion. They carved shoes and spoons,
which paid well ; therefore no one could
justly call Jeppe Jans and his family poor

62 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

people. Little lb, a boy of seven years old
and the only child, would sit by, watching
the workmen, or cutting a stick, and some-
times his finger instead of the stick. But
one day lb succeeded so well in his carving
that he made two pieces of wood look
really like two little wooden shoes, and

he determined to give them as a present to
Little Christina.

Little Christina was the boatman's
daughter. Her father Avas a widower, and
he made his living^, carryino; fire- wood to
the distant village. As there was no one
at home with whom he could leave Little

AJSTDERSEN-'S FAIRY' TALES. 63

Christina, she was almost always with him
in his boat. When he Avent to town, the
boatman wonld take Little Christina across
the heath to the cottage of Jeppe Jans and
leave her to play with lb till he returned.
They were great friends; they divided
their bread and berries and agreed in
everything.

One day, the boatman let them both go
to the village with him, and this was a
great event. They sat on the pile of wood
in the boat, and enjoyed the sail. In the
village, the boatman bonght a sucking pig
to take home. He put him safely in a
basket, and away they went up the river
again. The boatman's assistant lived near
the bank of the river, and when tHey came
opposite to his house, they pushed the
boat to the shore, and the two went up to
the house, leaving the children on the boat
for half an hour. Then lb and Little
Christina thought thpy would like to look
at the pig, and they took him out of the
basket. The pig slipped out of their hands,
fell into the water and floated away down
the stream.

64 AJVDER SEN'S FAIRY TALES.

lb and little Cliristina were very niuclh
frightened. They both jumped ashore and
ran down the stream after the pig ; but
they soon lost themselves in a thicket, and
could not find their Avay back. The}^ ^van-
dered about till it grew dark, and then
they lay down on the dry leaves close to-
gether and wept till they fell asleep. The
sun was high in the heavens when they
awoke. Soon out of the thicket came an
old woman with three nuts in her hand.
She held them out to the children, and told
them that they contained most beautiful
things, for they were wishing nuts.

" Is there in this nut a carriage, with a
pair of horses V asked lb.

" Yes, there is a golden carriage, with
two golden horses," replied the woman.

" Then give me that nut," said Christina ;
so lb gave it to her.

lb held up another nut. "Is there, in
this nut, a pretty little neckerchief.

"There are ten neckerchiefs in it," she
replied, " as well as beautiful dresses."

The third was a little black thing. " You
may keep that one," said Christina.

66 AJSTDERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES,

- AYliat is in it ?" asked lb.

"■ The best of all tbiiigs for you," replied
tlie gypsy. So lb held tlie nut very tight.
^ Then the old woman showed them the
way home, wtere they ai'rived safely.
Weeks and iz^ntlis passed. Christina
grew to be a beautiful maiden, and every-
one said that lb and Little Christina would
be married when they were old enough.
One summer, she went to live with a rich
innkeeper's v/ife in the great town.

One day the boatman came over to the
cottage and said that the innkeeper's son
wanted to marry Christina. lb turned very
pale at this.

" What the old woman said is coming
true," thought lie. "She will get all the
fine things in the wishing nuts. I cracked
mine long ago and found nothing in it,
though the old woman said it contained the
best of all." IIj was not selfish ; so, al-
though he felt very badly that Christina
could forget him, he thought it was much
better for her.

After a number of years, Jeppe Jans
diedj and lb had the farm. One day as he

AN'DERSEJST'S FAIRY TALES. 67

was ploughing in the field, the plough
turned out a rich golden armlet. lb showed
it to the clergyman, who said that he had
found a Hun's grave, " which is the very
best thing you could find," said he, " for
there is certainly more treasure there." lb,
in truth, found a number of things of pure
gold, all of which he took to Copenhagen,
and tliey brought him a large sum of money.
" So thei'e was something in my nut, after
all," thought he.

One night, while lie was in Copenhagen,
he met a little girl crying bitterly. She
said her mamma was dying. lb followed
her to her home, and found his own play-
mate of the heath on a l)ed of rags, and
wdth not a morsel to eat. She died that
night, and lb took the new Christina home
with him, and in the evenings he would
take her on his lap and tell her stories.

lb afterward learned that the rich miller's
son had squandered all his wealth with
jovial companions, and being reduced by
drink, had drowned himself in the canal,
leaving his wife and child dependent upon
the cold charity of the world.

68 ANDEESEJST'S FAIRY TALES.

The Golden Swan.

A POOR woman was in the wood, gath-
ering firewood. She carried it in a
bundle on her back, and in her arms she
held her little child. She saw the golden
swan, the bird of Fortune, rise from among
the reeds on the shore. What was that
that glittered? A golden egg^ quite warm
yet. She laid it in her bosom, and the
warmth remained in it.

At home, in the poor cottage, she took
out the egg ; " tick, tick," it said, as if it had
been a valuable gold watch; but that it
Avas not, only an egg — a real living egg.
The egg cracked and opened, and a dear
little baby-swan, all feathered as A^dth the
purest gold, put out its little head ; round
its neck it had four rings, and as the poor
woman had four boys — three at home, and
the little one that she had with her in the
lonely wood — she gave a ring to each boy.

One of the boys was playing in a ditch,
and took a lump of clay in his hand, turned,
and twisted and pressed it between his
fingers, till it took shape, and he became a
great sculptor.

TO ARBERSEJST' S FAiEY TALES.

The second boy ran out on tlie meadow,
where the flowers stood — flowers of all im-
aginable colors ; he gathered a handful and
squeezed them so tight that all the juice
spurted out into his eyes, and some of it
wetted the ring. It cribbled and crawled
in his hands, and after many a day people
in the city talked of the great painter.

The third child held the ring so tight in
his teeth that it gave forth sound, an echo
of the song in the depth of his heart.
Thoughts and feelings rose in beautiful
sounds ; rose like singing swans ; plunged,
like swans, into the deep, deep sea. He be-
came a great master, a great musician.

And the fourth little one was the " ugly
duck" of the family ; they said he had the
pip, and must have pepper and butter, like
the little sick chickens, and that he got ;
but he got kisses too, and he was a poet,
and was buffeted and kissed, alternately,
all his life. But he held what no one could
take from him — the Kino; from Dame For-
tune's golden swan. His thoughts took
wings, and flew up and away, like singing
butterflies — the emblems of immortality !

ANDEBSEJ^'S FAIRY TALES.

The Daisy.

A DAISY lived just on the edge of a
garden. Inside the palings grew some
gaudy peonies, and proud lilies. The
daisy did not think to envy them, but was
very ha^^py. The larks sang overhead, and
the daisy listened but was quite content to
stay in the grass where it was. When a
lark ilew down to the daisy and said : ^^ O,
what a beautiful flower!" the peonies grew
redder with anger, and the tulips lifted
their heads iu proud disdain. Just then ^
girl came into the garden with a pair of
shears, and cut off every tulip and peony.

The next morning, the daisy heard a
mournful "tweet, tweet/' and looking up

72 ANDEESEIS^'S FAIBY TALES,

saw the lark, imprisoned in a cage. Tlie
boys had caught him, but they had gone

off and left him ^^athout a drop of water,
and the pretty bird was nearly dead from
thu^st. When the boys came back, they

AJSfDEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES, 73

cut up a piece of tlie turf witli tlie daisy in
the centre to give to the lark. " Pull out
the daisy," said one. " No !" said the other,
"the lark may like it." When the lark
found the modest daisy in his cage he
kissed it with his beak, and sang softly.

...iy-^f^ -^

Thick-headed Jack.

A EiCH country squire had two sons, who
both wished to marry the king's daughter.
She had given out publicly that she would
marry the man who could give the readiest
answer. One of the brothers knew the

74 AJ^DERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

Latin dictionary by lieart, and tlie otlier
knew all about law. Their fatlier gave each
of tliem a beautiful liorse, and tliey set out
to the house of the princess. Just as they
were starting, the youngest brother came up.
He was never counted with his brothers
because he was so dull. He was called
Thick-headed Jack.

" Hallo !" cried Jack ; " where are you
off to?"

" To the king's palace. Don't you know
what all the world knows V and they told
him the whole story.

" My gracious ! I shall come too," cried
he. The brothers laughed scornfully and
rode away.

" Daddy," cried Jack, " I must have a
horse. If you only knew Avhat a hurry I'm
in to get mariied !"

" Hold your foolish tongue !" cried his
father. "- You shall have no horse. You
can't phrase your words properly. You
and your brothers are different beings."

" Well," cried Jack, " if I can't have a
horse, I'll take the old goat. It belongs to
me." So said, so done. He mounted the

ANBEESEN^'S FAIRY 7ALES. 15

old goat, and off lie was down the turnpike
road like a storm wind.

His brothers were riding slowly; neither
spoke, lest he should forget the things he
had learned to say to the princess.

'' Hallo !" cried Thick-headed Jack, " I^m
coming. Just look Avhat I've found on the
road !" and he showed them a dead croAv^

" Blockhead !" cried his brothers. "What
are you going to do with that ?"

" Going to give it to the princess."

" You had better !" said his brothers.

" Hallo ! Look what I have found now."

" Blockhead !" they cried ; " it is nothing
but an old wooden shoe. Are you going to
give that to the princess ?"

" Perhaps I may," said Thick-headed Jack.
The brothers laughed and rode on ; they
were now a long way in advance. " Hop-
pity-hop ! Here I come !" cried Jack.
" Look here, better and better !"

" What have you got now ?" asked the
brothers.

" Oh, I could not tell you," cried Thick-
headed Jack; "it is too grand!"

" Oh, fie !" cried the brothers; " why, that

16 AN'BEESEN'S FAIMY TALES.

IS mud, notliing but mud out of tte
gutter."

"So it IS," cried Jack ; " tlie very finest
sort ;" and lie filled liis pocket witli tlie mud.

Tke brothers galloped away till the .sparks
flew right and left; they reached the town-
gate earlier than Thick-headed Jack.

All the people of the land stood in crowds
round the palace mndows to see the prin-
cess receive her suitors. As soon as any of
them entered the hall where she was, his
speech went out like a candle.

^^He is no good," cried the king's
daughter ; " out with him !"

At last it came to the turn of the brother
who knew the Latin dictionary, but he had
forgotten every word.

" It's awfully hot here," said he.

" Yes, indeed ; but my father is roasting
some chickens to-day."

" Ahem ! ahem !" There he stood like
a simpleton. He had never expected such
a conversation as this ; and he had not a
word to say. He would have liked to say
something very ^\dtty — " Ahem !"

"He is no good," said the king's

AN'BERSEJST'S FAIRY TALES, 11

daiio^liter. " Out mtli him." And out lie
had to go. The other brother came in.

" It's a^vf ully hot here," he said.

" Yes, indeed ; we are roasting chickens."

" How — do — how ?" he began.

is ANDERSEN'S FAIRT TALES.

"He is no good," said the king's
daugliter ; " send him away." Then came
Thick-headed Jack, galloping, goat and all,
straii>:lit into the room. " Puff ! it's mnr-
dering hot," he cried.

" Yes, indeed ; but my father is roasting
chickens to-day."

" Oh ! then I can roast my ci'ow," said
Thick-headed Jack.

" With pleasure," said the princess.
" But have you anything to roast it in ?"

" I have, though," said Jack. " Here is a
cookino^ utensil." He took out the old
wooden shoe and put the crow inside it.

^' That is a regular meal," said the pi-in-
cess ; " bai; where shall we get soup ?"

"I've got that in my pocket," said
Jack. "I've enough and to spare," and he
threw some mud on the floor.

"Now, I like that," said the princess.
" You have an answer I'eady, and you can
speak. I choose you for my husband, and
the rest may all go home."

So Thick-headed Jack was made king, and
sat on a throne. He won a crown and a Avife^
and all by having an answer ready.

ANDEBSEX'^ FAIRY TALES, 79

The story

of a
Mother.

It was icy
cold without, and
within a mother
sat by her sick

80 AKDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

child. There came a knock at the door,
and an old man walked in and sat down by
the cradle. The mother had not slept for
three days and three nights, and now she
nodded just for a minute. When she awoke,
the old man was gone, and so was her child.
The old man was Death.

Out in the snow rushed the mother. It
was very dark and very cold. A woman
sat in the mother's path, of whom she
inquired if she had seen an old man taking
away a child. ^^ Yes," said the woman, ^'I
saw him. I am Night. If you mil sing me
all the songs you sang to the child, I will
tell you wdiich way he went." So the
mother, as she w^ept, sang all the songs,
and the woman showed her a path into
a deep hr-forest.

The mother went on till she came '-o a
great lake on which was neither ship nor
boat. She wTung her hands in agony, and
the lake said : " If you will weep away
your eyes, in my waters, I mil take you to
Death's home." So she we^t her eyes into
the lake and they became great pearls.
Then the lake wafted her to a beautiful

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 81

garden in wliicli were many plants, and an
old wliite-liaired woman tending tliem.

"Oh, tell me where to find my child," said
the mother.

" Death has not yet arrived," said the old
woman. " When he comes you can recog-
nize your child. Every human being has
a life plant growing here. When they die

82 AJSUERISEN'iS EAIHY TALES.

they are transplanted to another garden.
If you will give me your beautiful hair and
take my white hair I Avill tell you more."

So the mother exchanoed her hair for the
white hair of the old Avoman, and she led
her to a little flower in a\ liich her child's
heart was still beating. Then there rushed
through the garden an icy chillness, and the
mother knew that Death had arrived.

" How did you find your way ?" asked
he ; " how could you come faster than I ?"

" I am a mother," she answered.

And Death stretched out his hand toward
the delicate little flower ; but she lield her
hands tightly round it. Then Death breathed
upon her hands, and her hands sank down
powerless.

^^ You cannot prevail against me," said he.

" But a God of mercy can," said she.

'' I only do His will," replied Death. " I
am His gardener. I take all His floAvers and
trees, and transplant them into the gardens
of Paradise in an unknown land.

^' Give me back my child," said the mother,
weeping and imploring ; and she seized two
beautiful flowers in her hands,

ANDERSEN'S EAIllY TALKS. 83

"Do not toiicli tliem," said Death.
"Would you make another motlier as un-
liappy as yourself ? There are your eyes. I
iislied tliem up out of tlie lake for you. Take
tliem back — tliey are clearer now than be-
fore— and then look into the deep well
which is close by here. I mil tell you the
names of the two flowers which you w ished
to pull up ; and you will see the whole
future of the human beings they represent.

Then she looked into the well ; and it was
a glorious sight to behold how one of them
became a blessing to the world, and how
much ha})piness and joy it sj)read around.
But the life of the other was full of care and
misery.

" Both are the will of God," said Death;

" Which is the unhappy flower, and which
is the blessed one ?" she asked.

" That I may not tell you," said Death ;
" but thus far you may learn : That life of
care belonged to your child."

Then the mother wrung her hands, fell on
her knees, and prayed to God : " Grant not
my prayers when they are contrary to Thy
will, which at all times must be the best."

84 ANDEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

On the very
last house in the
village was a
stork's nest, and
the mother stork
sat in it with
four young ones.
A little way off
stood the old

father stork, quite upright and stiff, on

ANDERSEN* S FAIHT TALES. g5

one lesr, for lie tliousrlit that looked more
grand and aristocratic than to stand on
both leors like other birds.

In the street below were a number of chil-
dren at play, and when they caught sight of

86 ARDEBSEN'S FAIBY TALES.

tiie storks, one of tlie boldest amongst tlie
boys began to sing a song about them, and
veiy soon lie was joined by tlie rest :

" stork, stork, fly away,

Stand not on one leg, I pray;
See your wife is in her nest,
With her little ones at rest.
They will hang one,
And fry another ;
They will shoot a third,
And roast his brother,''

" Jnst liear what those young boys are
singing," said the young storks ; " they say
we shall be hanged and roasted."

" Never mind ^\diat they say ; you need
not listen," said the motlier.

But the boys went on singing and point-
ing at the storks, and mocking at them.
The mother stork comforted her young
ones, and told them not to mind.
"See," she said, "how quiet your father
stands, although he is only on one leg."

The next day, when the children wei'e
playing together, and saw the storks, they
sang the same song again —

*' They will hang one,
And roast another.'*

AISTDEBSEN'S FAJRY TALES. 8t

" Shall we be hanged and roasted ?" asked
the young storks.

" ^No, certainly not," said the mother. " I
mil teach you to ily, and when you have
learnt, we will fly into the meadows, and
pay a visit to the frogs, who mil bow them-
selves to us in the water, and cry ' Croak,

croak,' and then we shall eat them up;
that will be fun."

^'And what next?" asked the young
storks.

"Then," replied the mother, "all the
storks in the country will assemble together,
and go through their autumn manoeuvres ;
so that it is very important for every one

88 ANDEUSEK'S FAIRY TALM.

to ^know liow to fly properly. After tlie
great review is over, we sliall fly away to
Egypt, wliere there is a river tliat over-
flows its banks, and tken goes back, leaving
nothing but mire ; there we can walk
about, and eat frogs in abundance."

" Oh, o — h ! " cried the young storks.

" Yes, it is a delightful place ; there is
nothing to do all day long but eat, and
while we are so well off out there, in this
country there will not be a single green
leaf on the trees, and the weather will be
so cold that the clouds will freeze, and fall
on the earth in little Avhite rao;s."

" Will the naughty boys freeze and fall
in pieces ?" asked the young storks.

" No, but they Avill be very cold, and be
obliged to sit all day in a dark, gloomy
room, while we shall be flying about where
there are flowers and warm sunshine."

Time passed on, and the young storks
grew so large that they could stand upright
in the nest and look about them. The
father brought them, every day, beautiful
frogs, little snakes, and all kinds of stork-
dainties that he could find.

AWDEBSEK'S FAIRY TALES. 89

" Come," said tlie motlier one day, " now
you must learn to ily." And all the four
young ones were obliged to come out on
tlie top of tlie roof.

"Look at me," said tlie motlier; "you
must hold your heads in this way, and
place your feet so."

Then she flew a little distance from them,
and the young ones made a spring to
follow her ; but down they fell plump, for
their bodies were still too heavy.

"I don't want to fly," said one of the
young storks, creeping back into the nest.

" Would you like to stay here and fi'eeze

00 AITDEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

wlien tlie winter comes?" said the mother;
^^ or till the boys come to hang you, or to
roast you ? — Well then, I'll call them."

^' Oh no, no !" said the young stork, jump-
ing out on the roof with the others ; and
now they were all attentive, and by the
third day could iiy a little. The boys
came again in the street singing their song.

" Shall we fly down, and pick their eyes
out V asked the young storks.

" No ; leave them alone," said the mother.
" Listen to me ; that is much more import-
ant. Now then. One — t^vo — three. Now
to the right. One — t^\"o — three. Now to
the left, round the chimney. There now,
that was very good."

" But may we not punish those naughty
boys ?" asked the young storks.

"No ; let them scream away as much as
they like."

" We will revenge ourselves," whispered
the young storks to each other. They were
very angry, and grew worse as they grew
older ; so at last their mother was obliged
to promise that they should be revenged,
but not until the day of their departure.

AN^DJSRS^JST'S FATUT TALES.

91

As soon as tlie autumn amvecl, all the
storks began to assemble together before
taking tlieir departure for warm countries?
during tlie winter. Tlien the review com-
menced. Tliey flew over forests and vil-
lages to show wliat tliey could do, for they
had a long journey before them. The

young storks performed their part so well
that they received a mark of honor, with
frogs and snakes as a pi*esent.

"Now let us have our revenge/' they
cried.

" Yes, certainly," cried the mother stork.
•^ I have thought upon the best way to be
revenged. I know where all the little

n ANDERSEK'S FAIRY TALES.

children lie, waiting till tlie storks come to
take them to their parents. All parents
are glad to have a little child, and children
are so pleased with a little brother or
sister. ]N^ow we will ily away, to fetch a
baby for each of the children that did not
sing the naughty song."

Little Claus and Big Claus.

In a Yillao:e there once lived two men
who were both called Claus. One of them
had four horses, but the other had only one ;
so to distinguish them, people called the
owner of the four horses, '' Great Claus,"
and he who had only one, " Little Claus."

Through the whole week. Little Claus
was obliged to plough for Great Claus, and

94 AN'DERSUN'S FAIRY TALES.

lent liim Ms one horse ; and once a week,
on a Sunday, Great Clans lent liini all his
four liorses. Then hoAv Little Clans would
smack his whip over all five liorses and
say : " Gee-up, my ^Ye horses."

"You must not say that," said Big
Claus ; " for only one of them belongs to
you." But Little Claus Avould call out,
" Gee-up, my iive hoi'ses !"

" Now I must beg of you not to say that
again," said Big Claus ; " for if you do, I
shall hit your hoi'se on the head, so that he
will drop dead."

"I promise you I will not say it any
more," said the other; but as soon as
people came l3y, nodding to him, and wish-
ing him " Good day," he became so pleased
that he cried out again : " Gee-up, all my
horses !"

"I'll gee-up your horses for you," said
Big Claus; and, seizing a hammer, he
struck the one horse of Little Claus on the
head, and he fell dead.

" Oh, now I have no horse at all," said
Little Claus, weeping. But after a while
he took off the dead horse's skin, and hung

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 95

the Mcle to dry in tlie wind. Then lie put
the dry skin into a bag, and, placing it over

his shoulder, went into the next town to
sell the horse's skin.

At night, he lost his way and stopped at

96 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIBY TALES.

a house for a lodging. But tlie woman
Baid lier husband was away and she shut
the door in his face. Close to the house
was a shed with a thatched roof, and
Little Claus climbed up there for a night's
sleej). From the top of the shed he could
look into the window, and there he saw
the woman having a grand feast with the
sexton. Now, the husband hated the sex-
ton, so this one had called while he was
away. Pretty soon the husband was heard
coming down the I'oad. The woman hid
the sexton in a chest, hid the wine behind
the door, and the roast meat she put back
into the oven.

The man heard Little Claus on the shed
and he made him come down and invited
him in to supper; but the woman gave
them only porridge. Little Claus did not
like this, so he stepped on his dried skin
and it squeaked.

" What have you got in the bag ?" asked
the man.

" Only a conjurer,'" said Little Claus.

" And what does he say ?"

" He says there is meat in the oven."

ANDEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

97

The skin squeaked again, and Little
Claus said it tokl kim tkat tkere was wine
bekind tke door. Wken tke man looked
and found botk tke meat and wine, ke
gave Little Claus a buskel of money for
tke bag. Claus said ke must kave tke
ckest, too, so ke gave kim tkat, and witk

tke money and tke ckest on

kis wkeel-

barroAV, Little Claus went on kis way.
He would not let tke sexton go till ke gave
kim anotker buskel of money, and now
tkat ke kad so muck ke went kome.

Wken Great Claus asked kim wkere ke

98 ANDERSEN'' S FAIBY TALES,

got all his mone}^^ lie said : " Why, I sold
the horse's skin." Then Great Claus took
a hammer and killed all of his four horses,
skinned them and took their skins to the
town to sell them. When the shoemakers
asked him the price, he said a bushel of
money for each. The shoemakers thought
he was making sport of them, and they
took off their aprons and belts, and beat
him out of the town.

Great Claus was very angry at Little
Claus for getting him into such a scrape.
He went home and tied Little Claus in a
bag, and started for the river to drown
him. On the way he passed a church, and
as his conscience hurt him, he stopped for
a fcAV moments, putting do^rn the bag in
the road, and went into the church to pray.
A little drover came along the road, driv-
ing a great herd of cattle. He was bemoan-
ing his lot, and wishing he was in heaven.
" Get into this bag," shouted Little Claus,
'^ and you will be there in half an hour.
I was on the way myself."

The drover let Little Claus out of the
bag and got in himself , first charging Little

AJSTBERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 99

Claus to take tlie cattle and keep tliem.
Great Claus came out of tlie church, took

the bao; to the brido-e and threw it into
the river. On his way back he met Little
Claus drivinsr home his cattle.

100 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

*^ Hello!" said lie, ''didn't I drown you
in tlie river !"

^' Oil, yes !" said Little Clans, " or you
thought you did."

^' How did you come liere, and where did
you get the cattle V

" These are sea-cattle," said Little Glaus :
"I found them all in the bottom of the
rivei'. It was a piece of great luck for me
to be drowned."

" What a lucky fellow you are !" ex-
claimed Great Clans. ''Ho you think I
should get any sea-cattle if I went down to
the bottom of the river ?"

" Yes, I think so," said Little Clans. " If
you Av ill go there first, and creep into a
sack, I ^vill throw you in with the greatest
pleasure."

" Thank you," said Great Clans ; but re-
member, if I do not get any sea-cattle
down thei'e I shall come up again and give
you a good thrashing."

" No, now, don't be too fierce about it !"
said Little Clans.

" Put in a stone," said Great Clans, " or I
may not sink."

A^^J)I:nsI:^-'s faiby tales, loi

'•'■ 0-1 there's not miicli fear of tliat," lie re-
plied ; still lie put a large stone into tlie bag,
and tlien tied it tiglitly, and gave it a pusli.

" Plump !" In went Great Glaus, and
immediately sank to tlie bottom of tlie river.

The Elfin Hill.

There was a great buzzing and rumbling
in tlie Elfin Hill. There was to be a ball,
and all tlie demons, and imps, and hob-
goblins, the merman and his daughter, the
grave-pig and death-horse were all invited,
and the raven carried the invitations. The
old goblin of Norway was coming mth his
two sons to select wives from the seven

102 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIBY TALES.

elfin maidens, wlio were already dancing
witli tlieir sliawls made of moonliglit and
mist.

Two will-o'-tlie-wisps came running in
crying : " Here tliey come ! liere tliey
come !"

" Give me my cro^^ai," said the elf king,
^' and let me stand in tlie moonsliine."

Tlie daughters drew on tlieir shawls and
bowed down to the ground. There stood
the old goblin from the Dovre Mountains,
Avith his crown of hardened ice and pol-
ished fir-cones. Besides this, he w^ore a
bear-skin, and great warm boots.

"Is that a hill?" said the youngest of
the boys. " We should call it a hole, in
Norway."

"Take care," said the old man, "or
people will think you have not been well
brought up."

Then they entered the elfin hill, where
the grand company were assembled, and so
quickly had they appeared that they
seemed to have blo^^oi together. They all
behaved very well, except the two young
goblins, who were not at all polite.

AKDERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES. 103

Then the elfin girls had to dance, first in
the usual way, and then with stamping

feet, which they performed very well ;
then followed the artistic and solo dance.

104 ANDERSEN'S EAIRY TALES.

Dear me, how they did throw tlieir legs
about ! No one could tell where the
dance begun, or where it ended, nor indeed
which were legs and which were arms, for
they were all flying about together, like
the shavings in a saw-pit !

" Stop !" cried the old goblin, " is that
the only housekeeping they can perform ?
Can they do anything more than dance
and throw about their legs?"

^' You shall see what they can do," said
the elf king. And then he called his
youngest daughter to him. She took a
white chip in her mouth, and vanished
instantly; this was her accomplishment.
But the old goblin said he should not like
his wife to have such an accomplishment,
and thought his boys would have the same
objection. Another daughter could make
a figure like herself follow her, as if she
had a shadow, which none of the goblin
folk ever had. The third had learnt in
the brew-house of the moor witch how to
lard elfin puddings with glow-worms.
The fourth daughter played on a harp,
and when she played everybody had to do

ANDEIi.'SEX'S FAIRY TALES. 105

just as ste ^vislied. " TMs mil not do at
all," said tlie old goblin," and tlie two sons
left the room and walked out on tlie liill.

The fifth daui^hter declared that she could
do everything that was done in Norway, and
she would never marry till she could go
there. This quite abashed the next elfin, so
that she could not come forward at all.

None of these suited the old goblin, till
he came to the seventh ; and what could she
do ? Why, she could tell stories, as many
as you liked.

" Here are my five fingers/' said the old
goblin ; " tell me a story for each of them."

So she sat down and told him beautiful
stories ; and when she came to the fourth
fincrer, on which was a rino;, she told him
such a sweet love story that he declared,
since his sons had taken themselves off, that
he would many her himself. Then the
elfin girl said that the story of the other
finger had not been told.

"We will hear it in the winter," said
the goblin. I Avill take you to my home
in Norway, and there you shall tell
all your tales. And when Nix comes to

106 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

visit us she will sing all the mountairi
songs."

" The cock is crowing," said the old elfin
maiden who acted as housekeeper ; " now
we must close the shutters."

The Drop of Water.

There was an old magician whom the
people called Kribble-Krabble, because he
would have his o^sll Avay. He sat one day
looking through his magnifying glass at a
drop of water. The water was full of
little creatures, which through the glass
appeared a thousand times as big as they
really were. And how they Kribble-Krab-
bled ! chasing each other about, fighting
and biting each other at a great rate.

*^ What have you there V asked another
old magician, who had no name.

"Guess," said Kribble-Krabble, "and
ril make you a present of it." The magi-
cian who had no name looked through the
glass. He had put a di-op of coloring
matter in the water, which made the crea-
tures all look pink. It looked really

AN^DEBSEN S FAIEY TALES.

10'

like a great toA\ai reflected there, in wliicli
all tlie 23eople were running about mthout

clotlies ! It was terrible ! But it was still
more terrible to see liow one beat and
pushed the other, and bit and hacked, and

103 AJSTBERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

tugged and mauled liim. Those who were at
the top were being pulled down, and those
at the bottom were struggling upwarxls.

" That's fuDny !" said the magician.

" Yes ; but what do you think it is V
said Kribble-Krabble. ^' Can you find that
out?" ^^Why, one can see that easily
enough," said the other. " That's Paris or
some other great city, for they're all alike.
It's a great city !"

" It's only puddle water !" said Kribble-
Krabble.

The Ugly Duckling.

An old duck was sitting on her nest,
waiting for her brood to hatch. She was
getting very tired, Avhen one day the shells
began to crack, and one after another the
young ducks began to stick their heads out
and cry : " Peep, peep." The old duck sat
on, for the largest egg of all had not yet
hatched. " Well, how are you getting on ?"
asked an old duck, who paid her a visit.

'' One egg is not hatched yet," said the
duck.

" Let me see the egg that will not break,"

AJS'DERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, 109

said the old duck ; " I have no doubt it is
a turkey's egg. I was persuaded to hatcli
some ouce, and after all my care and trouble
with the young ones, they were afraid of
the water. Yes, that is a turkey's egg ;
take my advice, leave it where it is, and
teach the other children to swim."

^$^>;5^^^^^

"I think I mil sit on it a little while
longer," said the duck ; " as I have sat so
long already."

"Please yourself," said the old duck, and
she went away.

At last the large egg broke, and a
young one crept forth, crying: "Peep,
peep." It was very large and ugly. The

110 AJSTBERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

duck stared at it, and exclaimed : '^ It is very
large, and not at all like tke others. I
wonder if it really is a turkey. We shall
soon find it out, however." She took them
dii^ectly to the water, and the ugly duck-
ling plunged in and swam as well as the
rest.

But the little thing was so ugly that the
others all fought it, and took its food away,
and as it grew, its life became a burden.
Finally, he could stand it no longer and he
ran away and went to a moor where the
wild ducks were, who treated him very well.
In a few days some spoi-tsmen came with
their dogs, and there was a great fluttering
among the ducks. Many of them were
sliot, and the ugly duckling was so fright-
ened that he crept under some rushes and
stayed all day and all night.

The next morning he resolved to leave
the moor. He was very hungry, and when
he came to a little cottage with the door a
little open he went in. An old woman and
a cat and a hen lived in the cottage. The
old woman seemed glad to see him, and
gave him some food directly, and he sat

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. Ill

down in the corner, quite contented. In a
few days he felt a longing for a swim in
the cool water. He mentioned it to the

cat and the hen, and they laughed at him.
" Did you ever hear of such a thing ?" said
they ; " he must be crazy,"

112 ANDEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

But one morning wlien nobody was
looking the duckling crept slyly out of tlie

door and started to look for a pond or a
river. As lie flapped liis wings, he was
surprised to feel how strong they were.

AJ^BERSEN'S FAIBY TALES. 113

8ome beautiful birds flew over liis head,
and he longed to go with them. They
were swans, but he did not know that, and
he had never felt so strange a liking for
any other birds. He flapped his wings
again, and almost before he knew it he was
sailing through the air. He flew till he
came to a large pond in a garden, where he
saw some of the beautiful birds with the
long necks swmming. He lit on the water
right among them. He thought they
would surely fight him like the ducks, but
they didn't ; they came around him with
every manifestation of joy. Some little:
children clapped their hands and cried :
'^ Oh, here is a new swan."

The Angel.

" When a good child dies, an angel flies
with him over all the places he has loved
during life. Then he gathers a handful of
flowers and takes them to heaven, that they
may bloom more brightly."
i These words were spoken by an angel
of God, as he carried a dead child up to

114 AJSTDEESEJST'S FAIRY TALES.

heaven. As they passed over the beauti-
ful gardens where the child had played,
the angel said : " Which of these flowers
shall we take to heaven with us ?" Close
by grew a slender rose-bush, but some

wicked hand had broken the stem, and the
buds were withered. "Let us take the
poor rose-bush with us," said the child.

The angel took up the rose-bush ; then
he kissed the child, and the little one half-

AI^BERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 115

opened liis eyes. The angel gatlierecl also
some beautiful flowers, as well as a few
humble buttercups and heart's-ease.

" Now we have flowers enough," said
the child ; but the angel only nodded ; he
did not fly uj^ward to heaven.

It was night, and quite still in the great
town. The angel hovered over a small,
narrow street, in which lay a large heap oi
straw, ashes, and sweepings. There l?j
fragments of jD^ates, pieces of piaster, rags,
old hats, and other rubbish not pleasant to
see. Amidst all thh .-vmfusion, the angel
pointed to the piece?^ of a broken flower pot,

116 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

and to a lump of eartli whicli liad fallen out
of it. The earth had been kept from fall-
ing to pieces by the roots of a withered
flower.

"AVewill take this with us," said, the
angel; "I will tell you why as we fly
along.

^' Down in that narrow lane, Jv. a low
cellar, lived a poor sick boy ; he had been
afflicted from his childhood, aad even in
his best days he could ju&t manage to walk
up and down the room on crutches once
or twice, but no j>iore. During some days
in summer, the s^inbeams would lie on the
floor of the C3llar for about half an hour.
In this spot the poor sick boy would sit
warming himself in the sunshine. Then
he would say he had been out, yet he
knew nothing of the green fores*; in its
spring verdure, till a neighbor's son
brought him a green bough from a beech-
tree. This he would place over his head,
and fancy that he was in the beech- wood
while the sun shone, and the birds carol-
led gaily. One spring day the neighbor's
boy brought him some field-flowers, and

ANDEnSEN^\^ FAIUY TALES. 117

among them was one to wliicli the root
still adhered. This he carefully planted in

a flower-pot, and placed in a window-seat
near his bed. And the flower grew, put
forth fresh shoots, and blossomed every

118 AlSTDEBSEl^'S FAIRY TALES.

year. It became a splendid flower-garden
to tlie sick boy, and Lis little treasure upon
earth. He watered it, and clierislied it,
and took care it should have the benefit of
every sunbeam that found its way into, the
cellar. The flower entwined itself even in
his dreams; and to the flower he turned,
even in death, when the Lord called him.
He has been one year with God. During
that time the flower has stood in the
window, withered and forgotten, till at
length cast out among the sweepings into
the street. And this poor flower, with-
ered and faded as it is, we have added to
our nosegay, because it gave more real
joy than the most beautiful flower in the
garden of a queen."

'' But how do you know all this V asked
the child.

" I know it," said the angel, " because I
myself was the poor sick boy who walked
upon crutches."

Then the chikl opened his eyes and looked
into the glorious, happy face of the angel,
and at that moment they found themselves
in heaven, where all is happiness.

ARDERSEN^'S EAIRY TALES. 119

The Brave Tin Soldier.

Theee were once five-and-twenty tin sol-
diers, who were all brotliers, for they had
been made out of the same old tin spoon.
They shouldered arms and looked straight
before them, and wore a splendid uniform,
red and blue. The first thins: in the world
they ever heard were the words, " Tin
soldiers !" uttered by a little boy, who
clapped his hands with delight when the

120 AKBERSElSr'S FAIRY TALES.

I lid of tlie box, in whicli they lay, was
I taken off. The soldiers were all exactly
i alike, excepting one, who had only one
I leg ; he had been left to the last, and then
I there was not enough tin to finish him, so
they made him to stand firmly on one leg.
The table was covered with other play-
things, but the prettiest of all was a tiny
little lady made of paper. She was a
dancer, and she stretched out both her
arms, and raised one of her legs so high,
that the tin soldier thought that she, like
himself, had only one leg. " That is the
wife ' for me," he thought. Then he laid
; himself behind the snuff-box, so he could
pee23 at the little lady. When evening came,
the people of the house went to bed.
Then the playthings began to have their
own games together, to pay visits, to have
sham fights, and to give balls. The nut-
crackers played at leap-frog, and the pencil
jumped about the table. Only the tin sol-
dier and the dancer remained in their places.
She stood on tip-toe, with her arms
stretched out, as firmly as he did on his
one leg. The clock struck twelve, and,

AH^DER SEN'S FAIRY TALES. 121

with a bounce, up sprang the lid of the
snuff-box ; but, instead of snuff, there jumped
up a little black goblin,

" Tin soldier," said the goblin, " don't
wish for what does not belong to you."

AVhen the children came in the next
morning, they placed the tin soldier in the

window. Now, whether it was the goblin
who did it, or the draught, is not known,
but the window flew open, and out fell
the tin soldier, heels over head, from the
third story, into the street beneath. It
was a terrible fall; for he came head
downwards, his helmet and his bayonet
stuck in between the flagstones, and his

122 ANDEnSE^^'S FAIRY TALES.

one leg up in tlie air. Tlie servant-maid
and the little boy went downstairs directly
to look for liim; but lie Avas nowhere to
be seen, altliougli once tliey nearly trod
upon liim.

Presently there was a hea^y shower.
When it was over, two boys happened to
pass by, and one of them said, "Look,
there is a tin soldier. He ousrht to have a

o

boat to sail in."

So they made a boat out of a news-
paper, and placed the tin soldier in it, and
sent him sailing down the gutter, while
the two boys ran by the side of it, and
clap[)ed their hands. Good gracious, what
large ^s^aves arose in that gutter ! and how
fast the stream rolled on ! The paper
boat rocked up and down, and turned
itself round sometimes so quickly that the
tin soldier trembled ; yet he remained firm ;
his countenance did not change ; he looked
straight before, and shouldered his musket.
Suddenly the boat shot under the bridge
which formed part of a drain, and then it
was as dark as the tin soldier's box.

" Where am I going now ?" thought he.

AJSTBURSEJ^'S FA TUT TALES. 123

Suddenly there apj)eared a great water-
rat, who lived in the drain.

" Have you a passport ?" asked the rat ;
"give it to me at once." But the tin sol-

dier remained silent and held his musket
tighter than ever. The boat sailed on and
the stream rushed on stronger and stronger.
The tin soldier could already see daylight

:2i AlSTDERSEy'S FAIRY TALE^.

j^iining \vhere the arch ended. Then he
heard a roaring sound. At the end of the
tunnel the dr-ciln fell into a large canal over
a stee23 place. The boat rushed on, and
tlie poor tin soldier held himself as .stiffly
jis possible, without moving an eyelicL

Then the boat fell to pieces, and the
soldier was swallowed by a great fish,
which was caught, taken to the market
and sold to the cook. She cut him open
and cried out: ^^Oh, here is the tin sol-
dier " She took him into the same room,
and there Avas the elegant little dancer still
balancing herself on one leg, and everything
was just as he had left it.

AISTDERSEN^'S FAIRY TALE^. 125

The Nightingale.

A lo:n^g time ago tlie emperor of China
liad a beautiful palace, built entirely of
porcelain. It was so delicate and brittle
that whoever touched it had to take care.
All about it was a gai'den filled with the
larest flowers. The garden extended so
far that even the gardener himself did not
know where it stopped. But the fisher-
men knew that beyond it was a noble
forest sloping down to the sea, and that in
one of the trees lived a nightingale that
sang sweetly to them every night.

Strangers came to China froin nil pans
of the world, and when thoy weut home

126 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

tliey ^vrote books, describing all tbe beau-
tiful tilings ; but tliey all ended by saying :
" The nightingale is tlie most beautiful of
all." One of tbese books fell into the
emperor's bands. He was much pleased
with all the praises ; but when he- came to
the part telling of the nightingale, he was
much surprised. " What is this ?" said Ik •
^' Have I such a bird in my empire ? 1
have never heard of it."

Then he called one of his lords-in-waiting.

" There is a very wonderful bird men-
tioned here, called a nightingale," said the
emperor ; " they say it is the best thing in
my large kingdom. Why have I not been
told of it ?"

" I have never heard the name," replied
the cavalier; ''she has not been presented
at court."

" It is my pleasure that she shall appear
this evening," said the emperor.

But where was the nightingale to be
found ? The nobleman went upstairs and
down, through halls and passages; yet none
of those whom he met had heard of the
biid.

A]SrJDERSEN''S FAIRY TALES. \2\

" But I will liear tlie niglitiii2:ale,'' said the
emperor ; " slie must be here this evening ;
and if she does not come the whole court
shall be trampled upon after supper is
ended."

" Tsing-pe ! " cried the lord-in- waitings
and again he ran up and down stairs; and
half the court ran with him, for they did
not like the idea of being trampled upon.

At last they met wdth a ])oor little girl

128 ANDERSEN'' ;S FAIBY TALES.

in tlie kitclien, who said : " Oh, yes, I know
the nightingale quite w^ell."

" Little maiden," said the lord-in- waiting,
you shall have permission to see the
emperor dine, if you will lead us to the
nightingale." So she went into the wood,
and half the court followed her.

" Hark, hark ! there she is," said the
girl.

" Is it possible ?" said the lord-in-Avaiting ;
" I never imagined it would be a little,
plain, simple thing like that."

" My excellent little nightingle," said the
courtier, " I have the great pleasure of
inviting you to a court festival this even-
ing, where you w^ill gain imperial favor by
your charming song."

" My song sounds best in the green
wood," said the bird; but still she came
willingly.

The palace was elegantly decorated for
the occasion. The walls and floors of por-
celain glittered in the light of a thousand
lamps. Beautiful flo^vers, round which
Uttle bells were tied, stood in the corridoi's :
'.vhat with tlie running to and fro and the

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 129

drauglit, these bells tinkled so loudly that no
one could speak to b? heard. In the centre of
the great hall, a goidin perch had been fixed
for the nightingale to sit on. The whole
court was present, and the little kitchen-
maid had received permission to stand \>j
the door. The nightingale sang so sweetly
that the tears came into the emperor's eyes;
and then rolled down his cheeks, as her
sono^ became still more touching: and went
to every one's heart. The emperor was so
delighted that he declared the nightingale
should have his gold slipper to wear round
her neck, but she declined the honor with
thanks; she had been sufficiently rewarded
already. " I have seen tears in an em-
peror's eyes/' she said ; " that is my richest
reward."

Now, the whole city rang with praises
of the bird. Everybody talked of her.
She was put in a golden cage, and was
allowed to fly out every day, accompanied
by twelve ladies-in-waiting who held silken
cords attached to her feet. One day the
emperor received from Japan a present of
a golden bird that was covered with dia

i:^0 ANBEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

monds and gems. It was made to wind
up like a clock, and then it would sing
like the nightingale. They all said it
% sang better than the nightingale ; but an
^ old fisherman said its song was very
pretty, but it lacked something — he could
not tell what.

The emperor and the court now fell in
love vnth the new golden bird, and the night-
ingale was allowed to fly away out of the
window. One eveniog, when the artificial
bird was sinc-ino: its best, somethino; inside
sounded '' whizz." Then a spring cracked.
" Whir-r-r-r" went all the wheels, and then
the music stopped. The emperor imme-
diately called for his physician ; but what
could he do ? Then they sent for a watch-
maker; and, after a great deal of talking,
the bird was put into something like
order; but he said that it must be used
very carefully. Now there was great
sorrow, as the bird could only be allowed
to play once a year, and even that \vas
dangerous for the works inside.

Five years passed, and then a real grief
came upon tlie land. Cold and pale lay

1:32 AIS'DERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

the emperor in his royal bed; the whole
court thought he was dead, and every one
ran away to j^ay homage to his successor.
But the emperor was not yet dead. A
window stood open, and the moon shone
in upon the artificial bird. The poor
emperor, finding he could scarcely breathe
with a strange weight on his chest, opened
his eyes, and saw Death sitting there. All
around the bed were a number of strange
heads, some very ugly, and others lovely
and gentle-looking. These were the em-
peror's good and bad deeds, which stared
him in the face.

" Sing," said the emperor to the golden
bird, "and drive these horrid things away."
But how could the golden thing sing, when
there was no one to wind it ? Then came
through the window the beautiful song
of the nightingale, who had come back to
sino- to the kins:. He sans; till Death flew
out of the window, and the king, now
quite recovered, got up and walked about
his chamber. When the courtiers came in
to find him dead, he bade them "Good
morning I"

ANjDi:ii>S£JJ!^',S FAIRY TALES. 133

The Bond of Friendship.

OuE home was in Greece. It was built
of clay, but the door-posts were of pol-
ished marble. When the snow lay before
the door, so that we could scarcely open it,
my mother would draw me to her knee
and sing the songs which our Turkish mas-
ters had forbidden to be sung. Days and
nights passed while my father was away
fighting the Turks. When he came home,
I knew he would bring me shells from the
Gulf of Lepanto, and perhaps a knife,
keen and polished.

At last my father came, but this time he

134 ANBERISEN'S FAIRY TALES.

brought us a little girl wrapped in a slieep-
skin. He told us that the wicked Turks
had killed her parents, and now she was
to be my sister. Pier name was Anastasia,
and her father and mine were bound to-
gether by the Bond of Friendship, so he
had brought her home to be my sister.
Ah ! what happiness was that ! I carried
her in mv arms ; I brouo:ht her flowers and
w^ild bird's feathers ; we drank too;ether of
the streams which flowed from Parnassus,
and her head rested against mine under
the laurel-grown roof while my mother
sang our home songs.

One night armed men came to our hut,
and took Anastasia, my mother and myself
prisoners. They had already killed my
father, whose l>ody Ave saw as they hurried
us along the jiath. We went a long way,
and were kept in prison many days and
nights, but at last we were set free, and we
set out on our way to the sea. I carried
Anastasia on my shouldei's, and as my
mother was ill and weak, it was a long
journey. When we arrived it was the time
of the Easter festival, and we went to the

ANDERSEN'S EAIRY TALES. 1^5

feast at tlie church. A dark-eyed boy
threw his arms round my neck and kissed
me, with the greeting . " Christ is risen !"
And so it was that I first met Aphtanides.
My mother was clever at making nets
for the fishermen, and, as tliey were in
great request, we earned plenty of money,

and stayed a long time by the sea — the
beautiful sea that tastes like tears, like tlie
tears which the stag wept, red, green, and
pale blue.

Aphtanides could manage a boat well.
I and Anastasia sailed with him many a
time ; the boat glided over the water as a

136 A^'Di:JiS£:J\^'S FAIBY TALES.

cloud sails across the sky. When the sun
went down, the hills were bathed in violet
mist; they rose, one above another, and
highest of all stood Parnassus, white with
snow. In the sunlight the peak glowed
like molten gold ; the light seemed to come
from itself ; and long after the sun had set
it gleamed through the blue, vaporous air.
Sea-birds flapped the waves with their
white winofs; but for them, it would have
been as silent as our rocky 23ass in Delphi.
An astasia and I lay in the boat look-
ing at the stars Avhich shone above us
clearer than the tapers in the church. They
were the same stars that shone over our
little hut at Delphi. Sometimes it seemed
to me that I was at home again. Suddenly
a splash was heard, the boat gave a lurch,
and, with a shrill cry, I saw that Anastasia
had fallen overboard. Quick as thought,
Aphtanides sprang in after her and held
her up to me ; we wrung the water out of
her clothes, and remained out in the sun-
light till they were dry, for we did not
wish any one else to know of the fright
she had given us. From this time Aph-

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 137

tanides could claim a part in the life of our
little foster-sister.

Finally we I'eacbed our old home. Anas-
tasia became a beautiful woman, and I grew

to be a man. Aphtanides visited us often.
One day he proposed that we should take
the Bond of Friendship, as ray father and
Anastasia's liad done. So we put on our

UiS ANDERSEN'S FAIBY TALES.

best clothes, and went to the church.
Anastasia herself gave us the Bond of
Friendship, and we j^rornised to love each
other always, and to tell all our troubles
and our secrets to each other. When it
was all over, I seized his hand and said :

" One thing you must now know, which
until this has been a secret between myself
and heaven. My Avhole soul is filled with
love — a love stronger than that I bear to
my mother, oi* to thee."

" And whom do you love ?" asked Aph-
tanides ; and his face grew red as fiie.

" I love Anastasia," I replied — and his
hand trembled in mine, and he became
pale as a corpse. I saw it ; I understood
the cause. I bent toward him, and kissed
his forehead.

" And she shall be thine !" he exclaimed,
''thine ! I may not deceive thee, nor will
I do so. I also love her ; but to-morrow I
depart. In a 3'ear we shall see each other
once more, and then you will be married,
will you not ?" And we wandered home
silently across the mountains.

In the morning Aphtanides was gone

AJ^DEESEN'^ FAIIIY TALEii. 139

The Bachelor*s Nightcap.

In olden times, Hysken Street, in Cop-
enhagen, was very narrow, and the shops
where were sold saffroD, ginger and pepper
were very close together. The clerks were

140 AKDERSEN'S FAIMY TALES.

all old bachelors, and among them was old
Anthony. He was thin and little and
wrinkled. Instead of a hat, he wore a
kind of a bonnet, and under the bonnet a
nightcap, which was not very clean, for he
wore it night and day.

At night, when old Anthony was
through at the shop, and had mended his
clothes and patched his boots, he would
pull his nightcap down a little lower, go
to bed and try to go to sleep. But this
was not so easy a matter. Whether it
was in the nightcap or not, the lower he
pulled it over his eyes the more he would
thiuk of the days which had long ago
passed away, till the great tears would
roll down over his cheeks. Then he would
wipe away the tears with his nightcap,
and think of the pepper and saffron and
ginger ; but when he ]3ut his nightcap on
again, all the old visions would come back.

Although his eyes were closed he could
see very plainly two children at play — a
boy and a girl. The boy had rosy cheeks,
golden ringlets, and clear, blue eyes ; he
was the son of Anthony, a rich merchant ;

ANDERSEN'S FAIBY TALES. 141

it -was himself. The little girl had brown
eyes and black haii", and was clever and
courageous ; she was the mayor's daughter,
Molly. The children were playing with
an apple ; they shook the apple, and heard
the pi23s rattling in it. Then they cut it

^K

^^^a^^^Hj

UH||j|

^s

raP j&^^ffl

|^^K\j|

^^

^^^^^1^!

Ki^iil

l^^^g

RK^^^SBHkU

IpMHH

o

i^Hh

hfI

2

^m

mi

^H

9

HiM

^^:^.,.

in two, and each of them took half. They
also divided the pips and ate all but one,
which the little girl proposed should be
placed in the ground. 8o it was planted
and watched till it grew to a tree.

Molly grew too, till she was almost a
woman, and all went well till she moved

142 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

witli her father to a distant town. I^ow
years passed away, and young Anthony
was quite sorrowful that he did not of tener
hear from Molly. He had become a man,
and he resolved to pay her a visit. On a
stout horse he rode ail day and all night
till he came to the town where Molly
lived. They Avere very glad to see him, but
Molly did not act as he thought she would.
When he told her how unhappy he had
been without her, and asked her to go back
with him and be his own wife, she said
that could not be thought of, and she
treated him very coldly.

Anthony ^vent home very angry, and
declared that he would root up the apple
tree and destroy eveiything that reminded
him of Molly. But he didn't, for he waa
struck with a fever, and lay sick for many
days ; and then his father lost all his prop-
erty, and Anthony had other tilings to
think of. Now he ku' w it was for the
best that Molly was not his w^ife. He had
to work hard, just as though his father had
never been rich. A merchant in Hysken
Street offered to employ him as clerk on

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 143

condition that he would never marry.
Anthony laughed a bitter laugh at the
thought of his marrying^ and took the
place directly.

One morning old Anthony did not ap-
pear, and when they went to his room
they found him dead in his bed, with his

old nightcap on. They put on a clean one
when he was buried, and one of the other
old clerks washed the old one and tried to
wear it himself. But it was of no use ;
as soon as he put it on, visions of bank-
ruptcy, and disappointed love, and trials

144 AJSTDERSEN^'S FAIRY TALES.

of dark days would appear, and lie could
not rest. It was laid away for half a cent-
ury, and then fell into the maj'or's hands.
He too tried to sleep in it, but the old
bachelor's thoug^hts and visions came to
him just as though they were realities.

The moment he put the cap on, he
dreamed of unfortunate love, of bank-
ruptcy, and of dark days. ^^ Hallo ! how
the nightcap burns !" he exclaimed, as he
tore it from his head. Then a pearl rolled
out, and then another and another, and
they glittered and sounded as they fell.
"What can this be? Is it paralysis, or
something dazzling my eyes?" They were
the tears which old Anthony had shed half
a century before.

Many others tried to wear it, with the
same result, till the old bachelor's story
became as well known to half the town as
it is to you now. The only thoughts and"
dreams of a bachelor's nightcap still re-
main. Never wish for such a nightcap. It
would make your forehead hot, cause your
pulse to beat with agitation, and conjure
up all sorts of dreams.

AJ^DJEESEN'S FAIBY TALES. 146

amp

street; to-morrow he was to go to the
town hall to be inspected. He was
getting veiy old. He might be fit for a
factory or some street on the edge of the
town ; but the lamp was very much afraid
he would be melted down. At all events
he would be separated from the watchman

146 AJV^UAJijSJSJSr'S FAIEY TALES.

and his wife, who took care of him, and
that made him feel sad. He was hung up
on the very night the watchman had
begun his duties.

Ah, w^ell, it was a very long time sinco
one became a lamp and the other a watch-
man. His W'ife had a little pride in those
days; she seldom condescended to glance
at the lamp. But in later years, when
the watchman, the wife, and the lamp had
grown old, she had attended to it, cleaned
it, and supplied it with oil.

This was the lamp's last night in the
iS' reet, and to-morrow he must go to the
i^wn-hall — two very dark things to think
(^f. No wonder he did not burn brightly.
Many other thoughts also passed through
his mind. How many persons he had
lighted on their way, and how much
he had seen ; as much, very likely, as
the mayor and corporation themselves !
" There w^as a handsome young man once,"
thought he; "it is certainly a long wdiile
ago, but I remember he had a little note,
written on pink paper wdth a gold edge.
The writing was elegant ; twice he read it

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. U1

through, and kissed it, and then looked up
at me, with eyes that said quite plainly :
^ I am the happiest of men !' Only he and
I know what was written on this, his first
letter from his lady-love. Ah, yes, and
there was another pair of eyes that I
remember — it is really wonderful how the
thoughts jumjD from one thing to another !
A funeral jDassed through the street; a
young and beautiful woman lay on a bier,
decked with garlands of flowers, and at-
tended by torches, which quite overpow-
ered my light. All along the street stood
the people from the houses, in crowds,
ready to join the procession. But when
the torches had passed from before me,
and I could look round, I saw one person
alone, standing, leaning against my post,
and weeping. Never shall I forget tho
sorrowful eyes that looked up at me."

On the bridge over the canal stood three
persons, who wished to recommend them,
selves to the lamp, for they thought he
could give the office to Avhomsoever he
chose. The first was a herring's head,
which could emit light in the darkness.

148 A^^DI:IiSI:y's faiey tales.

He remarked that it would be a great
saving of oil if they placed him on the
lamp-post. Number two was a piece of
rotten wood, which also shines in the dark.
He considered himself descended from an
old stem, once the ^YidiQ of the forest.
The third Avas a glow-worm, and how he
found his way there the lamp could not
imagine, yet there he was, and could really
give light as well as the others. But the
rotten wood and the herring's head de-
clared most solemnly, by all they held
sacred, that the glow-worm only gave lighfc
at certain times, and must not be allowed
to compete with themselves. The old lamp
assured them that not one of them could
give sufficient light to fill the position of
a street lamp; but they would believe
nothing he said. And when they dis-
covered that he had not the power of
naming his successor, they said they were
very glad to hear it, for the lamp was too
old and worn-out to make a proper choice.
The next day — well, perhaps, we had
better pass over the next day. The even-
ing had come, and the lamp was resting —

A:ti/I)^RSJElf*S PAtRY TALES. 140

and guess where ! Why, at the old
watchman's house. He had begged, as a
favor, that the mayor and corporation
would allow him to keep the street-lamp,
in consideration of his lono^ and faithful

service, as he had himself hung it up and
lit it on the day when he iirst com-
menced his useful duties, four-and-twenty
years ago.

150 an'di:esen^' s FAinY tales.

The old lamp Avas now very comfortable.
He lacked only one thing for his complete
hajDpiness — that was a light. One day, the
watchman's mfe came to him and . said :
^' We will have a grand illumination to-
night, for 'tis my old man's birthday."
Then the old lamp was very happy. He
burned all the evening, and was much
admired.

After that the old lamp had a dream.
It appeared to him that the old people
were dead, and that he had been taken to
the iron foundry to be melted down. It
caused him quite as much anxiety as on the
day when he had been called upon to ap-
pear before the mayor and the council at
the town-hall. But thouo;h he had the
power of falling into decay from rust when
he pleased, he did not use it. He was
therefore melted, and changed into an ele-
gant iron candlestick, one intended to hold
a wax taper. The candlestick was like an
angel holding a nosegay. It was for &
green table, in a pleasant room ; many books
were about, and paintings on the walls.
And the dream lasted all the old lamp's life.

AN-DEESEN-'S FAIMY TALES, 151

Grandmother.

Grakdmothek is very old, her face is
wrinkled, and lier liair is quite wliite ; but
her eyes are like two stars, and they have
a mild, gentle expression in them when
they look at you, which does you good.
She wears a dress of heavy, rich silk, ^A'ith
large flowers worked on it ; and it rustles
when she moves. And then she can tell
the most wonderful stories. Grandmotlier

i52 AFDERBEN'S FAIRY TALES.

knows a great deal, for slie was alive
before fatlier and mother — that's quite cer-
tain. She has a hymn-book, mth large
silver clasps, in which she often reads ;
and in the book, between the leaves, lies a
rose, quite flat and dry ; it is not so pretty
as the roses which are standing in the
glass, and yet she smiles at it most pleas-
antly, and tears even come into her eyes.
" I wonder why grandmother looks at the
withered flower in the old book in that
way ? Do you know ?" Why, when grand-
mother's tears fall upon the rose, and she
is looking at it, the rose revives, and fills
the room with its fragrance ; the walls
vanish as in a mist, and all around her is
the glorious green wood, where in summer
the sunlio^ht streams throuo:h thick f oliao^e ;
and grandmother, why, she is young again,
a charming maiden, fresh as a rose, with
round, rosy cheeks, fair, bright ringlets,
and a figure pretty and graceful ; but the
eyes, those mild, saintly eyes, are the same
— they have been left to grandmother. At
her side bits a young man, tall and strong ;
he gives her a rose and she smiles.

ANDEESEisr^S FAIR T TAZE^. U^

Grandmotlier cannot smile like that now.
Yes, slie is smiling at tlie memory of that
day, and many thoughts and recollections
of the past ; but the handsome young man is
gone, and the rose has T\Tthered in the old
book ; and grandmother is sitting there,
again an old woman, looking down at the
withered rose in the book.

Grandmother is dead now. She had
been sitting in her arm-chair, telling us a
beautiful tale ; and when it was finished,
she said she was tired, and leaned her head
back to sleep awhile. We could hear
her gentle breathing as she slept ; gradu-
ally it became quieter and calmer, and on
her countenance beamed happiness and
peace. It was as if lighted up with a ray
of sunshine. She smiled once more, and
then people said she was dead. She was
beautiful in the white folds of the shrouded
linen, though her eyes were closed ; but
every wrinkle had vanished, her hair locked
white and silvery, and around hei mouth
lingered a sweet smile. The hymn-book,
in which the rose still lay, was placed under
her head, for so she had wished it.

154 ANDIJRSEJrS FAIBT TALES.

Anne Lisbeth.

Anne Lisbeth was a beautiful young-
woman, with a red and white complexion,
glittering white teeth, and clear soft eyes ;
and her footstep was light in the dance,
but her mind was lirfiter still. She had a
little child, not at all pretty ; so he was
put out to be nursed by a laborer's wife,
and his mother went to the count's castle.
She sat in splendid rooms, richly decorated
with silk and velvet ; not a breath of air
was allowed to blow upon her, and no one
was allowed to speak to her harshly, for
she was nurse to the count's child. He

AJ^DERSBX'S FATRY TALES. 155

was fair and delicate as a prince, and beau-
tiful as an angel ; and bow slie loved this
child ! Her own boy was provided for by
being at the laborer's, where the mouth
watered more frequently than the j^ot
boiled, and where in general no one was
at home to take care of the child. Then
he would cry, but what nobody knows no-
body cares for ; so he would cry till he
was tired, and then fall asleep ; and while
we are asleep we can feel neither hunger
nor thirst. Ah, yes ; sleep is a capital
invention.

As years went on, Anne Lisbeth's boy
grew like a weed, and made himself useful
to the laborer. She became quite a lady,
and lived in the town, and seemed to have
forgotten her homely boy altogether.
When he was old enoucrh he went to sea
in a wretched boat, and he would sit at
the helm while the skipper sat over the
grog-can. There w^as only the skipper be-
side himself to manage the boat, and often
he had a hard time of it.

One night, as the wind whistled through
the rigging, and the boat went cutting

156 ANDi:ilSIJN*S FAIRY TALM,

throu2:li the sea, she struck a rock liidden
beneath the surface, broke to pieces, and
the skipper and Anne Lisbeth's boy were
drowned, and their bodies were never seen.

Anne Lisbeth had now lived in the town
many years. She was called Madame, and
felt very dignified in consequence. The
count's son, w^ho was still beautiful, had
grown to be nearly a man. One day Anne
Lisbeth resolved to go and see him, as she
had not done so since she nursed him as a
baby. It was a long distance to the count's
house, and when she arrived there none of
the servants knew her. The countess,
however, treated her graciously, but the
son whom she had loved and thought of
all these years did not deign to notice her ;
for how could he remember that she nursed
him. Anne Lisbeth was greatly disap-
pointed when she set out for home. It was
a shorter way by the sea-shore, and she
stopped to see the laborer's wife, where
they had a cup of coffee together.

Now Anne Lisbeth had scarcely
thought of the boy at all for years, but
now, as she went along by the sea, she

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. ni

SOuld not belp thinking about him all the
time. Night came on, and though there
was a full moon, the mists made everything
look strauge and ghostly.

JShe continued her walk along by the
^iiargin of the sea. What was it she saw
lying there ? An old hat ; a man's hat.

Now, when might that have been washed
overboard ? She drew nearer, and stopped
to look at the hat ; " Ha ! what was that
lying yonder ?" She shuddered ; yet it
was nothing save a heap of grass and
tangled seaw^eed flung across a long stone,
but it looked like a corpse. Only tangled

158 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

grass, and yet she was friglitened at it. As
she turned to walk away, much came into
her mind that she had heard in her child-
hood : old superstitions of spectres by the
seashore ; of the ghosts of drowned but
unburied people, whose corpses had been
washed up on the desolate beach.

Sh.e grew afraid and walked faster.
Suddenly a white face appeared beside her
and said : " Dig me a grave ! dig me a
grave !" She thought it was the spectre of
her boy who was drowned in the sea.
" Yes, yes !" she said, and she fell to dig-
ging in the sand. She must have it dug
before daybreak, and she threw herself
upon the ground and tore at the sand, so
that the blood ran from her iino^ers. But
the day dawned, and the grave was only
half dug, and Anne Lisbeth's senses left her.

It was bright day when two men found
her on the seashore beside a large hole
which she had dug in the sand. They took
her home, and for many weeks she was in
a raging fever. Then for a whole year she
acted strangely. She talked constantly of
her boy, and when they would let her go

AN^DEESEN'S FAIRY TALES. 169

out she would go to tlie seashore and try
to dig him a grave. One night she was
gone all night, and could not be found.
The next day, when the sexton went to

ring the church bell, there she was beside
the altar. She was very weak, but her
cheeks were flushed and her eyes were
bright. She told them that her boy had
been with her, that she need not dig him a
grave now, for she had buried him in her

160 ANDERSEN'S FAIBY TALES.

heart, which is the best place for a mother
to hold her child. And when the sun set,
Anne Lisbeth's troubles were at an end.

The Fir Tree.

In the forest,
where the warm sun
and the fresh air
made a sweet rest-
^\iice, grew a
little fir tree. The
soft air fluttered its
leaves, the birds sang

AJSTBERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 161

merrily all around, and soraetimes the chil-
dren would come and play beside it, but it
was not happy ; it wished so much to be
tall like tlie pines. The little tree grew a
notch taller every year, but as it grew it
complained : " Oh, how I wish I was as tall
as tlie other trees." Sometimes in winter,
wlien the snow lay white on the ground, a
hare would come springing along and jump
right over the little tree, and then it would
complain the more because it Avas small.
Two winters passed, and the tree became
^o tall tliat the hare had to run around it,
lilt still it complained.

In the autumn, the woodcutters came
and cut down the tallest pines, lopped off
their branches and took tliem away. The
storks told the little tree that they were to
be masts for the sliips. " Oh, tliat I could
be a tall mast and go to sea," sighed tke
iir tree. Christmas grew^ near, and many
of the small trees were cut doA\Ti and
taken away.

"Where are they going?" asked the fir
tree.

" We know," sang the sparrows. " We

162 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

have looked into tlie Avindows of the
houses in the town, and seen them dressed
up splendidly, and hanging full of cakes
and toys and apples, and lighted with
hundreds of wax tapers." And this made
the fir tree more discontented than ever.

" Rejoice with us," said the air and the
sunlight.

But the tree would not rejoice. It kept
longing to go to sea, or to be dressed up
and lit with tapers in a warm room. A
short time before Christmas, the fir tree
was cut down. As it fell it could not
help feeling faint, and when it thought it
was leaving its companions forever, it was
quite sad. It was taken away and into a
beautiful room. How the fir tree trem-
bled ! " What was going to happen
to him now ?" Some young ladies came,
and the servants helped them to adorn
the tree. On one branch they hung little
bags cut out of colored paper, and each
bag was filled with sweetmeats ; from
other branches hung gilded apples and
walnuts, as if they had grown there; and
above, and all round, were hundreds of

ANBEESEN'S FAIBY TALES. 163

red, blue, and wliite tapers, wliicli were
fastened on tlie brandies. Dolls, exactly
like real babies, were placed under the
green leaves — tlie tree liad never seen such
things before — and at the very top was
fastened a glittering star, made of tinsel.
Oh, it was very beautiful !

"This evening," they all exclaimed,
"how bright it will be !" "Oh, that the
evenino; were come," thouo^ht the tree,
" and the tapers lighted ! then I shall
know what else is going to happen. Will
the trees of the forest come to see me ? I
wonder if the sparrows will peep in at the

164 ANBERSER'S FAIRY TALES.

windows as they fly ? sliall I grow faster
here, and keep on all these ornaments dur-
ing summer and winter?" At last the
tapers were lighted, and then what a glis-
tening blaze of light the tree ^^resented !
And now the folding doors were thrown
open, and a troop of children rushed in.
They shouted for joy till the room rang,
and they danced merrily round the tree,
while one present after another was taken
from it.

" What are they doing ? What will
happen next ?" thought the iir. At last the
candles burnt down to the branches and
were put out. Then the children received
permission to plunder the tree.

Oh, how they rushed upon it, till the
branches cracked, and had it not been fas-
tened with the glistening star to the ceil-
ing, it must have been thrown down. The
children then danced about with their
pretty toys, and no one noticed the tree,
except the children's maid, ^vho came and
peeped among the branches to see if an
apple or a iig had been forgotten.

In the morning the servants and the

ANDERSEN'S FAIEY TALES. 165

housemaid came in. ^' Now " t]iouo:lit tlie
fir, " all my splendor is going to begin
again." But they dragged him out of the
room and upstairs to the garret, and threw

him on the floor, in a dark corner, where
no daylight shone, and there they left him.
" What does this mean ?" thouo^ht the tree.
"What am I to do here ? I can hear noth-
ing in a place like this," and he leant

1G6 AN-BERSEJST'S FAIRY TALES.

against the wall, and thought and thought.
And he had time enough to think, for days
and nights passed and no one came near
him, and when at last somebody did come,
it was only to put away large boxes in a
corner. So the tree was completely hidden
from sight, as if it had never existed. ''■ It
is winter now," thought the tree ; " the
ground is hard and covered with snow, so
that people cannot plant me. I shall be
sheltered here, I dare say, until spring
comes. How thoughtful and kind every-
body is to me ! Still I wish this j^lace
were not so dark, as well as lonely, with
not even a little hare to look at. How
pleasant it was out in the forest while the
snow lay on the ground, when the hare
would run by, yes, and jump over me, too,
although I did not like it then. Oh ! it :s
terribly lonely here."

One day the tree was dragged out of
the garret and thrown in the yard. "JSTow,"
thought he, ''I am to be planted again.
I hope they will think to take me back
to the forest." But a boy soon came
and cut him into little bits, and he was

ANBEr.SEN'S FAIEY TALES. 167

thrown on the fire to make the kettle
Ijoil. Tlie branches sighed deeply, and
every sigh rang out like a shot, so that the
children left their play and came to sit
down before the fire, looking into it, and
crying out, "Puif! puff!"

The children played on in the garden, and
the youngest wore on his breast the gold
star which the tree had worn on the hap-
piest evening of its life. Now that had
passed away — and the tree had passed
away — and the story was ended.

<i8 AJ^BERSEJSr' S FAIRY TALES.

Ole-Luk-Oie.

Nobody in the world knows so many
stories as Ole-Luk-Oie, and nobody can
tell them so nicely. When the children
go to bed, he comes up the stairs very
softly, and opens the doors without the
slightest noise. Then he throws very fine
dust in their eyes, just enough to prevent
them from keeping them open. Ole-Luk-
Oie will not hurt them at all, for he is very
fond of children ; he only wants them to
be quiet, and that they never will be till

ANDERSEJS^'S FAIRT TALES. 169

they are asleep. Then Ole-Luk-Oie seats
himself on the bed. Under each arm he
carries an umbrella ; one of them, with
pictures on the inside, he sj^reads over the
good children, and then they dream the
most beautiful stories the whole night.
But the other umbrella has no pictures,
and this he holds over the naughty chil-
dren, so that they sleep heavily, and wake
in the morning without having dreamed
at all.

Sometimes he will take them on horse-
back, and give them a ride through the
air, through the town and across the ocean
to other lands. Sometimes he will take
them in beautiful ships and show them
strange sights. But he always brings
them back again before morning, no
matter how far they go. Now we shall
hear how Ole-Luk-Oie came to a little boy
named Hjalmar, and what he told him.

As soon as Hjalmar was well in bed,
Ole-Luk-Oie touched, w^ith his little magic
wand, all the furniture in the room, which
immediately began to chatter, and each
article only talked of itself.

170 ANDERSEN^'S FAIRY TALES.

Over the chest of drawers hung a large
picture in a gilt frame, representing a land-
scape, with fine old trees, flowers in the
grass, and a broad stream, which flowed
through the wood, past several castles, far
out into the mid ocean. Ole-Luk-Oie
touched the picture with his magic wand,
and immediately the birds commenced
singing, the branches of the trees rustled,
and the clouds moved across the sky, cast-
ing their shadows on the landscape beneath
them. Then Ole-Luk-Oie lifted little Hjal-
mar up to the frame, and placed his feet in
the picture, just on the high grass, and
there he stood with the sun shining do^vn
upon him through the branches of the
trees. He ran to the water, and seated
himself in a little boat which lay there.
The sails glittered like silver, and six
swans, each with a golden circlet round its
neck, and a bright blue star on its fore-
head, drew the boat past the green wood,
where the trees talked of robbers and
witches, and the flowers of beautiful little
elve's and fairies, whose histories the butter-
flies had related to them. Brilliant flsh,

AJSTDEBSEIST'S FAIBY TALES. 171

witli scales like silver and gold, swam after
the boat, wliile birds, red and blue, small
and great, flew after him in two long lines.
The gnats danced round them, and the
cockchafers cried '' Buz, buz." It was a

most pleasant saiL Sometimes the forests
were thick and dark, sometimes like a beau-
tiful garden, gay with sunshine and flowers ;
then he passed great palaces of glass and of
marble, and on the balconies stood "prin-

172 ANDERSEN-' S FAIBY TALES.

cesses, whose faces were tliose of little girls
wliom Hjalmar had often played with.

The next night Ole-Lnk-Oie came and
said : " AVhat do you think I have got
here ? Do not be frightened, and you
shall see a little mouse." And then he
held out his hand to him, in which lay a
lovely little creature. " It has come to in-
vite you to a wedding. Two little mice
are going to enter into the marriage state
to-night. They reside under the floor of
your mother's store-room, and that must be
a fine dw^elling-place."

^' But how can I o-et throuo^h the little
mouse-hole in the floor ?" asked Hjalmar.

" Leave me to manage that," said Ole-
Luk-Oie. And then he touched Hjalmar
with his magic wand, whereupon he be-
came less and less, until at last he w^as no
longer than a little finger. " Now you can
borrow the dress of the tin soldier. I
think it will just fit you. It looks well to
wear a uniform when you go in company,"

^^ Yes, certainly," said Hjalmar ; and in
a moment he was dressed as neatly as the
neatest of all tin soldiers.

AN^DERSEJ^'S FAIRY TALES. 173

" Will you be so good as to seat yourself
in your mamma's tliimble," said tlie little
mouse, " that I may liave tlie pleasure of
drawing you to the wedding."

'' Will you really take so much trouble,
young lady ?" said HJalmar. And so in
this way he rode to the mouse's wedding.
First they went under the floor, and then
passed through a long passage. Very soon
they arrived at the bridal hall. On the
I'ight stood all the little lady mice, whis-
pering and giggling, as if they were mak-
ing game of each other. To the left were
the gentlemen mice, stroking their whiskers
with their forepaws ; and in the centre of
the hall could be seen the bridal pair
standing side by side in a hollow cheese=
rind.

The room had been rubbed with bacon
7'ind, which was all the refreshment offered
to the guests. But for dessert they pro-
duced a pea, on which a mouse belonging
to the bridal pair had bitten the first let-
ters of their names.

174 ANDEESEJ^'S FAIRY TALES.

Under the Willow Tree.

In tlie little town of Kjoge it is very
bleak and cold, but in tlie outskirts, for a
little wkile in the summer, tlie gardens are
very pretty. Suck, at least, was tke opinion
of Knud and Joanna, two little ckildren
wkose parents were neigkbors. Tkey played
togetker every day in tke two gardens, and
forced tkeir way from one to tke otker
tkrougk tke gooseberry buskes wkick
divided tkem. In one garden stood a wil-
low tree and in tke otker an ekler tree, under

ANDEESEN'S FAIBY TALES, 1V5

whicli the cliildren would play, and they
grew very fond of the trees. Joanna called

the one, Mother Elder; and the other,
Father Willow.

176 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES

The town had a market place, and in fair
time crowds of people would visit the booths
and buy the pretty ribbons and toys and
cakes. The best of it was that the man who
kept the cake booth lodged at Knud's house,
and he always had a nice cake for Knud and
Joanna and would tell them stories by the
hour. One evening he told them this story
which they never forgot :

" Once upon a time there lay on my coun-
ter two ginger-bread cakes, one in the shape
of a man, the other of a maiden. Their
faces were on the side that was uppermost,
for on the other side they looked very dif-
ferent. They were placed on the counter
as samples, and after being there a long
time they at last fell in love with each
other ; but neither of them spoke of it to
the other, as they should have done if they
expected anything to follow. ' He is a man,
he ought to speak the first word,' thought
the gingerbread maiden ; but she felt quite
happy. But his thoughts were far more
ambitious. He dreamed that he was a real
boy, that he possessed four real pennies, and
that he had bought the gingerbread lady,

AJSTBERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. Ill

and ate her up. And so they were on the
counter for days and weeks, till they grew
hard and dry. ^ Ah, well, it is enough for
me that I have been able to live on the same
counter with him,' said she one day ; when
suddenly 'crack,' and she broke in two.
' Ah,' said the gingerbread man to himself,
' if she had only known my love, she would
have kept together a little longer.' And
here they both are, and that is their history,"
said the cake man.

After this Knud was apprenticed to a
shoemaker, and he grew to be a great boy.
About Christmas there came a letter from
Joanna's father saying that he was doing
well, and Joanna was earning money by
singing at a concert. Joanna herself had
added, in her own hand, " Kind regards to
Knud." This made Knud very happy, for
his thoughts had been daily with Joanna,
and now he knew that she also had thought
of him; and the nearer the time came
for his apprenticeship to end, the clearer
did it appear to him that he loved Joanna,
and that she must be his ^vif e ; and a smile
came on his lips at the thought, and at one

178 ANDERSEN'S J JUT TALES.

time lie di'ew tlie C<«iread so fast as he
worked, and pressed liis foot so hard
against the knee strap, that he ran the awl
into his finger. But what did he care for
that He was determined not to play the
dv/ob lover as the ginger-bread cakes had
d^ne.

At length he became a journeyman, and
by great good luck found a master in
Copenhagen, and, packing his knapsack,
he journeyed to the great city. He lost
no time in going to Joanna's house, w^hich
he easily found. He had to climb so
many stairs that he became quite giddy,
and wondered how so many people could
live over one another. Joanna's ncAV
mother did not know him, but her father
received him kindly and took him to her
room.

How pretty everything was in that
room ! There were carpets and rugs, and
window curtains hanging tO the ground.
Pictures and flowers were scattered about.
There was a velvet chair, and a looking-
glass against the wall, into which a person
might be in danger of stepping, for it was

AKDEESEJST'S FAIRY TALES. 179

as large as a door. All this Kniicl saw at
a glance, and yet, in trutli, lie saw nothing
but Joanna. Slie was quite grown up,
and very different from what Knud had

^'ii^\''-':'\iifiiii|l!l|ililll|

fancied her, and a great deal more beauti-
ful. In all Kjoge there was not a giii
like her; and how graceful she looked,
although her glance at first was odd, and
not familiar; but for a moment only, then

180 ANDEBSEISF'S FAIRY TALES.

she rusliecl towards him as if she would
have kissed him; she did not, however,
although she was very near it. She was
really glad to see him, and she asked about
the " elder mother and willow father," and
talked about the two ginger-bread cakes,
and the story of their silent love, and how
they lay on the counter and split in two.
She laughed quite heartily at the story,
but Knud's cheeks burned and his heart
beat quickly. He staid through the even-
ing with them, and Joanna herself poured
his cup of tea. Before he left them,
Joanna gave him a ticket and invited him
to come to the theatre where she sang.

At last the evening came when Knud
was to o-o to the theatre. How beauti-
fully Joanna sang; even the king smiled
at her; and the people all clapped their
hands. Knud shouted " Hurrah." When
he went to visit her again, she told him
she was going to France, and must bid him
good-by. Knud's heart gave a great bound,
and he thought, if he was not to be like
the ginger-bread cakes, he must tell her
now. So he told her how truly he loved

AN'DERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 181

her, and that she must be his wife. Joanna
turned ^^ale. She let his hand fall, and
said that could never be. She would love
him as a brother; she could never marry
him Slio was very kind and smoothed
his heated forehead with her hand.
Just then her mother came in, and Knud,

"^"^^^551^

feeling that the world had all slipped from
under him, hurried away.

Knud worked at his bench every day, but
he was very sad. Finally, a longing came
over him to travel out into the world. He
packed his knapsack and started, and did
not stop till he came to Nuremberg. Here

182 ANDERSEK'S FAIRY TALES.

lie found a kind master, witli wliom lie
worked all winter. But tkere was an elder
tree growing by Ms windows, and when lie
smelled tlie blossoms be could stand it no
longer. So be packed bis knapsack- again,
and journeyed on over tbe mountains to
Milan, wbere be found work.

One day bis master took bim to tbe opera,
and, bebold, wben tbe curtain rose, tbere
stood Joanna dressed in silk and gold. Slie
sang, be tbougbt, as only an angel could
sing ; and tben sbe stepped forward to tbe
front and smiled, as only Joanna could
smile, and looked directly at Knud. All
tbe audience applauded ber, and tbrew
wreatbs of flowers at ber. In tbe street tbe
people crowded round ber carriage, and
drew it away tbemselves witbout tbe borses.
Knud was in tbe foremost row, and sbouted
as joyously as tbe rest ; and wben tbe car-
riage stopped before a brilliantly ligbted
bouse, Knud placed bimself close to tbe
door of tbe carriage. It flew 023en and sbe
stepped out ; tbe ligbt fell upon ber dear
face, and be could see tliat sbe smiled as sbe
tbanked tbem, Knud looked straight in

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 183

her face, and slie looked at him, but she did
not recognize him. A man, with a glittering

star on his breast, gave her his arm, and
people said the two were engaged to be
married.

184 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

Tlien Knud went home and packed
tip his knapsack ; he felt he must return
to the home of his chiklhood, to the elder
tree and the \^dllow. He traveled on
over the mountains through the sleet and
the snow. One evening he came to a wil-
low tree which reminded him of home, and

he sat doAvn under it to rest. He was veiy
tired; his head soon drooped and he fell
asleep. Then he dreamed that it was the
old willow tree itself that came to meet him
and carried him back to the little garden at
home. Then t^vo strange figures came to
him, which he recognized at once as the two

AJSTBERSER'S FAIRY TALES. 1P5

gingerbread cakes, only tliey liad grown and
were mucli clir.nged. Behind tliem came
Joanna, dressed in silk and gold, as lie had
last seen her. " We have made it all straio-ht
at last," said the gingerbread cakes, " and
are going to be mariied, and you and Joanna
are coming too. We thank you," they said
to Knud, "for you have loosened our
tongues; we have learned from you that
thoughts should be spoken freely, or noth-
ing wdll come of them ; and now something
has come of our thoughts, for we are going
to be married."

Then they walked away, hand-in-hand,
through the streets of Kjoge. They
turned their steps to the church, and
Knud and Joanna followed them, also walk-
ing hand-in-hand. The great church door
ilew open wide, and as they walked up the
broad aisle, soft tones of music sounded
from the organ. " Our master first," said
the gingerbread pair, making room for
Knud and Joanna. As they knelt at the
altar, Joanna bent her head over him, and
cold, icy tears fell on his face, and as they
fell on his burning cheeks he awoke. He

186 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

was still sitting under the willow tree in a
strange land, on a cold wintry evening, with
snow and hail falling from the clouds, and
beating upon his face.

^' That was the most delightful hour of
my life," said he, " although it was only a
dream. Oh, let me dream again." Then
he closed his eyes once more.

In the night there was a fall of snow,
which fell all over him, but he still slept
on. The next morning the villagers found
him frozen to death under the willow tree.

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 187

The Jumpers.

The flea, tlie grassliopper, and the Imp-
favf,^ on one occasion wislied to prove
whicli could jump tlie Mgliest. The mat-
ter became known, and everybody was
attracted to the king's palace, where the
performance was to take place.

* A toy played with by Danish children. It is made from
the breast-bone of a goose, and is by some wooden contriy-
ance made to jump like a frog,

188 ANBERSEJ^'S FAIRY TALES.

^' The jumper wlio springs tlie higliest
will belong to my daughter," said the king.

The flea appeared first and saluted every
one present most politely.

Then came the grasshopper. He was un-
commonly heavy looking; however, he had
a very erect carriage and w^ore a green
uniform.

Both the flea and the grasshopper made
it known to every one who they were, and
that they firmly believed they could, if
they liked, marry the princess.

The liiipfmif said nothing; it was, how-
ever, said of him that he thought the more.
And, although he stood silent, doing noth-
ing, the court-dog believed that the liup-
fauf could really speak.

"People can see by looking on his
back," he said, " whether we shall have a
mild or a severe wdnter, and no one can
do that by looking at any man's back."

And now the jumpers are going to
begin. The flea jumped so high that no
one could see him, and then it was said that
he had not jumped at all. The grass-
hopper sprung right into the king's face.

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 189

and caused him to say: "How very dis-
agreeable !"

The hiipf an/ stood sl long time still as if
in deep thought, and at last he sprung, and
jumped right into the lap of the princess.

" Ah," said the king, " that is the best
Jump ; he can go no higher than my daugh-
ter. He shall belong to the princess."

,ir|'ff'i(I"fni(['r

The Jewish Maiden.

Ie" a charity school, among the children,
sat a little Jewish girl. The master was
giving the scriptm*e lesson, but she was

190 AKDERSEK'S FAIRY TALES,

not listening witli tlie class. Her father
liad placed lier there, on the condition that
she should be excused from the scripture
lesson; so she was allowed to study her
geography. But she could not help listen-
ing to the scripture lesson, and its truths
sank deep into her soul.

The master told her father that she was
even more interested than the other chil-
dren, and advised that he permit her to
become a Christian. With tears in his
eyes, the father said: " I don't know much
about these things, but I promised her
mother, on her dying bed, that I would
not permit her child to be a Christian."

Years rolled by and the Jewish maiden
went out to service. She heard the music
in the Christian church, and she longed
to go in, but she knew the promise her
father had made. As she listened at the
church door, the street boys made sport of
her, but she did not mind that. She
longed to read about Christ, but she dared
not. She remembered all she had heard
about Him, and it made her sad to think
that she could never be baptized.

ajsijj^k;s±:jsis j^:aiRY tales. 191

Her master was readino; aloud one even-
ing. It was not from the Bible, but it was
a story of a Christian who was taken
prisoner by a Turk, and cruelly tortured
until his friends secured his release by pay-
ing a large ransom. Not long after, in a

war, the gentleman took the same Turk
prisoner. The Turk expected no less than
to be j)ut to death, but the Christian said :
take the reveno^e that Christ
Christ, the teacher, commands us
to forgive our enemies and to love our
neighbors. Depart in peace ; return to thy

"I wiU

teaches.

192 AI^BEBSER'S FAIBY TALES.

home. But in future be mild and liumane
to all who are in trouble." And lie treated
the Turk kindly. Then the Jewish maiden
longed all the more to be ba23tized, but she
did not dare to speak of it to those about
her.

She fretted so about it, that iinally she
was taken very sick, and she died. They
would not bury her in the Christian church-
yard, but just over the wall. And the sun
which shines upon the graves of the
Christians shines upon hers; and the church
hymns sound across the church-yard, to her
lonely resting-place. She who sleeps there
may be counted as worthy at the resur-
rection as those who have been baptized.
Christ said : " John baptized you with
water, but I will baptize you with the
Holy Ghost."

ANDERSEJST'S FAIRY TALES. 19S

The Old Gravestone.

The evenings were growing long, and
tlie family were gathered about tlie table.
Without, the autumn moon shone brightly.

194 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

But they were not talking about the moon,
but about a large flat stone that lay in the
yard, not far from the kitchen door. The
maids often laid the saucepans on it to dry
in the sun, and the children were fond of
playing on it.

" Yes," said the master of the house, " I
believe the stone came from the graveyard
of the old church which was pulled down.
My father bought the stones ; most of them
were cut in two and used for paving-stones,
but that one stone was preserved whole,
and laid in the courtyard."

" Any one can see that it is a grave-
stone," said the eldest of the children; ^' the
representation of an hour-glass and part of
the figure of an angel can still be traced, but
the inscription beneath is quite worn out,
excepting the name ' Preben,' and a large
^ S ' close by it, and a little further down
the name of ' Martha ' can be easily read."

" Why that must be the grave-stone of
Preben Schwane and his wife."

The old man who said this looked old
enough to be the grandfather of all present
in the room.

AJSTDERSEIST'S FATRY TALES. 195

" Yes," lie continued, " these people were
among the last who were buried in the
churchyard. They were a veiy worthy
old couple. I can remember them well in
the days of my boyhood. Every one knew
them, and they were esteemed by all.
They were the oldest residents in the town,
and people said they possessed a ton of gold,
yet they were always very plainly dressed.
Preben and IMartha were a fine old couple,
and when they both sat on a bench, at the
top of the steep stone steps, in front of their
house, and nodded in a gentle, friendly
way to passers by, it really made one feel
quite happy. They ^vere very good to the
poor. The old woman died first. That day
is still quite vividly before my eyes. I was
a little boy, and had accompanied my father
to the old man's house. Martha had fallen
into the sleep of death just as we arrived
there, and the old man was in ^rreafc dis-
tress, and weeping like a child. He spoke
of how lonely he should feel now she was
gone, and how good and true she had been
during the years that they had passed
through life together, and how they had

100 AN'BERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

l)ecome acquainted, and learnt to love eacli
other. I was, as I have said, a boy, and
only stood by and listened to wliat tlie
others said; but it filled me with a strange
emotion to listen to the old man, and to
watch how the color rose in his cheeks as
he spoke of the days of their courtship, of
how beautiful she was. And then he
talked of his wedding-day ; and his eyes
brightened, and he seemed to be carried
back, by his words, to that J03rful time.
And yet there she was, lying in the next
room, dead — an old woman, and he w^as an
old man, speaking of the days of hope,
long 23assed aw^ay. Ah, well, so it is ; then
I was but a child, and now I am old, as
old as Preben Schwane then was.

^' A year later Old Preben was laid beside
his wife.

^' The old house, mth its balcony, and the
bench at the top of the high steps, under ^
the lime-tree, was considered, by the road-
inspectors, too old and rotten to be left
standing. Afterw^ards, when the same fate
befel the convent church, and the grave-
yard was destroyed, the grave-stone of

AISTDJERSE^'S FAIRY TALES. 197

Preben and Martha, like everything else,
was sold to whoever would buy it. And

so it happened that this stone was not cut
in two as many* others had been, but now

198 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

lies in tlie courtyard below, a scouring
block for tlie maids, and a playground for
the children. The paved street now passes
over the resting-place of Old Preben and
his wife ; no one thinks of them any more
now."

And the old man shook his head mourn-
fully, and said : " Forgotten ! Ah, yes,
everything will be forgotten !" And then
the conversation turned on other matters.

But the youngest child in the room, a
boy, with lai-ge, earnest eyes, mounted upon
a chair behind the window curtains, and
looked out into the yard, where the moon
was pouring a flood of light on the old
grave-stone — the stone that had always
appeared to him so dull and flat, but which
lay there now like a green leaf out of a
book of history. All that the boy had
heard of Old Preben and his wife seemed
clearly defined on the stone, and as he gazed
on it, and glanced at the clear, bright moon
shining in the pure air, it was as if the light
of God's countenance beamed over His
beautiful world.

" Forgotten ! Everything will be for-

ANDJn^.C:::^rPD JA:.i:Y I'AZIlC. 199

gotten ! " still echoed tlirougli the room,
and in the same moment an invisible spirit
whispered to the heart of the boy : " Preserve
carefully the seed that has been entrusted
to thee, that it may grow and thrive.
Guard it well. Through thee, my child,
shall the obliterated inscription on the old,
weather-beaten grave-stone, go forth to
future generations in clear golden char-
acters. The old pair shall again Avander
through the streets arm-in-arm, or sit with
their fresh, healthy cheeks, on the bench
under the lime-tree, and smile and nod at
rich and poor. The seed of this hour may
ripen into a poem. The beautiful and the
good are never forgotten ; they live always
in story or in song."

200 ANBERSEN^'S FAIRY TALES.

The Swineherd-

Theee was once a young prince who
had a small kingdom, and a very little
money. Yet lie was bold enongli to want
to marry tlie emperor's daughter. In the
prince's garden grew a rose tree of a most
unusual kind, w^hich bore flowers but once
in five years ; and then only one rose. But
the fragrance of this one rose was so sweet
that people who inhaled it forgot for the
time all their cares and sorrows. Besides
this rose-tree the prince had a nightingale
that sang so sweetly, it seemed as if all the

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, 201

loveliest melodies were seated in its throat.
Tlie ilower-tree and the bird were botli
packed carefully in large silver vases, and
forwarded to tlie princess, wlio, when she
saw them, clapped her hands with joy,
exclaiming : " Oh, suppose there should be
a little pussy-cat for me ! "

When she saw the rose-tree, she turned
away, and said : "It is only a natural rose-
tree ; " and when the bird was taken out
in his cage, she was displeased, because it
was only a natural bird. When the prince
found that his presents were not accepted,
he stained his face brown, and his hair
black, put on some old clothes, pulled his
hat down low, and went to the emperor's
palace, and engaged to be swineherd to the
emperor. He lived in a little room close
to the pig-sties, and watched the pigs all
<iay.

But while he was watching the pigs, he
made a pretty little kettle, hung about
with bells. And when the kettle boiled,
the bells would play a tune. But this was
not all; whoever put his finger in the
steam, could tell just what everybody was

202 ANDERSEN-' S FATRY TALES.

havino: for breakfast. It was a Avonder-
ful kettle.

When tke princess went to walk witli
her maids, she heard the kettle playing, and
she wanted to buy it. The disguised
prince said she might have it for ten
kisses.

The princess was offended at the pre-
sumption of the swineherd, and she turned
to walk away. But the kettle began to
sing again, and she turned back, and
bought it, giving the swineherd ten kisses,
with the maids all standing around, so
that no one should see. They took the
kettle away, and found much pleasure in
hearing it sing, and finding out what their
neiixhbors A\^ere cookins: for breakfast.

The swineherd then made a wonderful
musical rattle, that played all the tunes
that ever were made. When the princess
heard it, she wanted the rattle also, but
the swineherd Avould not give it to her for
less than a hundred kisses. '' I must have
the rattle," said the princess. " Take your
places and form a ring round me." So the
ladies quickly formed a circle round the

ANDERSJRy'S FAIRY TALES. 203

princess, and spread out their dresses to
hide her.

" What can all that commotion be about,

near the pigsties?" asked the emperor, as
he came out on the high balcony. Then he
rubbed his eyes and put on his spectacles.

l?04 ANDERSEN^'S FAIRY TALES.

" It looks as if tlie ladies of the court were
having some foolish frolic ; I must go
nearer and see what it means." So he
pulled up his slippers and walked slowly
and cautiously through the garden, but
the ladies were so busy counting the
kisses, that they did not notice the
emperor's approach, till he came so close
that he stood on tiptoe to see what was
going on.

" What is all this ?" he asked, and the
next moment, when he saw the kissing
going on, he drew off his slipper and
threw it at the head of the swineherd.

''Pack yourselves oif quickly, bag and
baggage," he thundered.

" Oh, wretched creature that I am,"
sighed the princess; '4f I had only ac-
cepted the offer of that handsome prince I
would not now be in so miserable a plight !"

Then the swineherd stepped behind a
tree, put on his j)rincely dress, and came
out looking so handsome that the princess
curtsied to him, and said at once she would
marry him. But the prince turned his
• back on her, saying: ''You refused the

AN'DERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 205

offer of an lionorable prince, and for
trifling toys have permitted yonrself to be
kissed by a swineherd." And he would
have nothing more to do with her.

206 ANDERSEN'' S FAIRY TALES.

The Goblin and the Huckster.

There was once a student, who lived in
a garret. And there was also a huckster,
to whom the house belonged, and who
occupied the ground floor. A goblin lived
with the huckster, because at Christmas he
always had a large dish full of jam.

One evening the student came into the
shop to buy candles and cheese for himself;
he obtained what he wished, and then the
huckster and his. wife nodded good even-
ins: to him The student nodded in

ARDEBSEN'S EAIRY TALES. 207

return, as lie turned to leave, tlien suddenly
stopped, and began reading tlie piece of

paper in vfliicli the clieese was wrapped.'
It was a leaf torn out of an old book— a

208 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

book tliat ought not to liave been torn np,
for it was full of poetry.

'^Yonder lies some more of tlie same
sort/' said tlie huckster ; '' you shall have the
rest for sixpence, if you will."

^^ Indeed I willj" said the student; "give
me the book instead of the cheese. It
would be a sin to tear up a book like this.
You are a clever man, and a practical man;
but you understand no more about poetry
than that cask yonder."

But the goblin felt very angry that any
man should say such things to a huckster
who was a householder and sold the best
butter. As soon as it was night, the goblin
stepped softly iuto the bedroom where the
huckstei''s wife slept, and took away her
tongue. Whatever object in the room he
placed the tongue upon immediately
received voice and speech. The goblin
laid the tongue upon the cask, in which
lay a quantity of old newspapers.

" Is it really true," he asked, '^ that you
do not know what poetry is ?"

'' Of course, I know," replied the cask ;
^^ poetry is something that always stands

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 209

in the corner of a newspaper, and is some-
times cut out ; and I may venture to affirm
tliat I liave more of it in me than the
student has."

" Now I shall go and tell the student,"

said the goblin ; and with these words he
w^ent quietly up the back stairs to the
garret where the student lived. He had a
candle burning still, and the goblin peeped
through the keyhole and saw that he was
reading in the torn book. But how light

210 AN'DERSElSr'S FAIRY TALES.

the room was ! From the book shot forth
a ray of light which grew broad and full,
like the stem of a tree, from which bright
rays spread upward and over the student's
head. Each leaf was fresh, and each flower
was like a beautiful female head; some
Avith dark and sparkling eyes, and others
with eyes that were wonderfully blue and
clear. The fruit gleamed like stars, and the
room was filled with sounds of beautiful
music. The little goblin had never imagined
any sight so glorious as this. He stood
still on tiptoe, peeping in, till the light
went out in the garret. The student no
doubt had blown out his candle and gone
to bed ; but the little goblin remained
standing there nevertheless, and listening to
the music which still sounded on, soft and
beautiful, a sweet cradle-song for the stu=
dent, who had lain down to rest.

''This is a wonderful place," said the
goblin; "I never expected such a thing.
I should like to stay here mth the student ;"
and then the little man thought it over, for
he was a sensible little sprite. At last he
sighed : '' But the student has no jam !" So

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 211

lie went downstairs again into tlie iinckster's
shop, and it was a good tiling lie got back
when lie did, for the cask had almost worn
out the lady's tongue ; he had given a de-
scription of all that he contained on one
side, when the 2:oblin entered and restored
the tongue to the lady. But from that time
forward the whole shop formed their opin=
ions from that of the cask.

The Mischievous Boy.

As a kind old poet was seated in his
room one evening, an awful storm arose.
The \\dnd blew and the rain fell in tor-
rents, AH at once the old poet heard a

212 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

childisli voice say : '^ Oh, please let me in ;
I am so cold and wet." The poet opened
the door, and there stood a little boy
nearly naked. He had fair hair, and his
two eyes spai'kled like stars. Indeed, he
looked like a little angel, but he was
shivering with the cold. The old j)oet let
him in, squeezed the rain from his curly
hair, and held him on his knees, by the fire.

After taking a little sweet mulled wine,
and eating a roasted apple, the boy seemed
revived, and his cheeks became quite rosy.
But presently he surprised the good poet
by slipping from his arms, and then danc-
ing and skipping Avildly about the room.

" You are a merry rogue," said the poet.
" What is your name ?"

^' I am called Love," he replied ; " don't
you know me ? There lies my bow, and
I know how to shoot it, too !"

" But the bow is spoilt," said the poet.

" That would be a pity," he said, as he
took up the bow and examined it care-
fully. " Ha !" he exclaimed ; " it is quite
dry now; the string stretches properly.
There has no harm happened to it. I will

AN'DEHSEN'S FAIBT TALES. 21.^

prove this," lie added, as lie took an arrow
from his quiver, laid it across the bow,

drew the string, and shot the good old
poet in the heart !

214 ANBEnSEIT'S FAIRY TALES,

" JSfow^ is my bow useless ?" cried the
boy, as lie ran away quickly.

Tlie wicked boy ! How could lie dare
to slioot tlie good old poet, wlio liad shel-
tered him in his warm room, and had been
so kind to him.

There lay the poet on the ground,
and wept; he had really been struck
to the heart, and he could only say :
" Alas ! what a mischievous youngster this
Love is ! I shall tell all the children,
both boys and girls, never to associate
with him, for he is sure to l^lay them some
trick."

So all the good children who have been
warned, take care to have nothing to do
with such a bad boy. But Love cheats
them, for he is so sly and cunning.

As the students at the college pass by,
he steps forward with a book under his
arm, and looking so grave and respectable
in his black clothes, that they have not
the least idea who he is.

In fact, they take him for a fellow-stu-
dent, and are soon seen walking with him,
arm in arm. However, he contrives to

ANDEBSEN'^ FAIRY TALES. 215

shoot an arrow into their hearts when they
least expect it.

\^^^^^^

And it is the same with the young ladies,
when they are coming from the lectures, or
from confirmation, or even from church.

Indeed, he is eveiywliere. At the
theatre he sits in the great lustre-light and
burns like a bright flame, so that people
mistake him for a lamp.

lie frequents the royal gardens and the
public promenades. And, only fancy !
once he jDOsitively shot his arrow into the
hearts of our fathers and mothers. Just
ask them.

Yes, this Love is a daring, wicked boy,
and you must not associate with him, for
he allows no one to escape a shot.

Just think, now, that once he even fired
an arrow at our old grandmother ; but it is
a long time ago. The wound is quite
healed, yet she will never forget it. Fie
upon this wicked Love ! However, we
know now what a mischievous youngster
he is, and if we do not avoid him, we know
what is likely to happen.

A^DERSEK*S FAIRY TALM. 211

Little Ida's Flowers.

" My poor flowers are quite dead," said
little Ida ; " tliey were so pretty yesterday
evening, and now all tlie leaves are hang-
ing down quite withered. What do they
do that for ? " she asked, of the student
who sat on the sofa.

" Don't you know what is the matter
with them?" said the student. "The
flowers were at a ball last night, and there-
fore it is no wonder they hang their
heads."

" But flowers cannot dance ? " cried lit-
tle Ida.

"Yes, indeed, they can," replied the
student. " When everybody is asleep, they

218 AJSTDBBSEN'^S FAIRY TAZJES,

jump about quite merrily. They have a
ball almost every night."

" Can children go to these balls ? "

" Yes/' said the student.

" Where do the beautiful flowers
dance ?"

"Have you not often seen the large
castle outside the gates of the town, where
the king lives in summer, and where the
beautiful garden is full of flowers ? Well,
the flowers have capital balls there."

''I was in the garden out there 3^ester-
day Avith my mother," said Ida, " but all
the leaves were off the trees, and there
was not a sinsfle flo^ver left. Where are
they ? I used to see so many."

"They are in the castle," replied the
student. " You must know that as soon
as the king and all the court are gone into
the town, the flowers run out of the gar-
den into the castle, and you should see
how merry they are. The two most beauti-
ful roses seat themselves on the throne, and
are called the king and queen. Then all the
red cockscombs range themselves on each
side, and bow ; these are the lords-in-wait-

. AJ^DEMSEK'S FAIHY TALES. 219

ing. After tliat, the pretty flowers come
in and there is a grand ball."

\

"Oil, how funny!" said Ida, and she
laughed.

220 AKDERSEN'S FAIMT TALES.

" How can any one put sucli notions in-
to a child's head ? " said a tiresome la^vyer,
who had come to pay a visit, and sat on
the sofa. He did not like the student, and
would grumble when he saw him cutting
out droll or amusing pictures. Sometimes
it would be a man hanging on a gibbet
and holding a heart in his hand, as if he
had been stealing hearts. Sometimes it
was an old witch riding through the air
on a broom and carrying her husband on
her nose. But the lawyer did not like
such jokes, and he would say as he had
just said : " How can any one put such
nonsense into a child's head ? What absurd
fancies there are ! "

But to little Ida, all these stories which
the student told her about the flowers,
seemed very droll, and she thought over
them a great deal. The flowers did hang
their heads, because they had been dancing
all night, and were very tired, and most
likely they were ill. Her doll, Sophy, lay
in the doll's bed asleep, and little Ida said
to her : " You must really get up, Sophy,
and be content to lie in the drawer to-

ANDERSEN'S FAIBY TALES, 221

night; the poor flowers are ill, and they
must lie in your bed."

Then little Ida went to bed, and lay
thinking about the flowers and their balls.
After a while she heard soft music. She
crept out of her bed, went to the door, and
looked into the room. Oh, what a sj^lendid
sight there was to be sure I All the hya-
cinths and tulips stood in two long rows
down the room, not a single flower remained
in the window, and the flower-pots were
all empty. The flowers were dancing grace-
fully on the floor, making turns and hold-
ing each other by their long green leaves.
At the piano sat a large yellow lily ^vhich
little Ida was sure she had seen in the
summer, for she remembered the student
saying she was very much like Miss Lina,
one of Ida's friends. Then she saw a large
purple crocus go up to the doll's bedstead
and draw back the curtains ; there lay the
sick flowxrs, but they got up directly, and
nodded to the others as a sign that they
wished to dance. They did not look at
all ill now, but jumped about and were
very meny.

222 ANUERSEN'S FA TRY TALES.

First came two lovely roses, witli little
golden crowns on their heads ; these were
the king and queen. Beautiful stocks and
carnations followed, bowing to every one
present. They had also music with them.
Large poppies and peonies had pea-shells
for instruments, and blew into them till
they were quite red in the face. The
bunches of blue hyacinths and the little
w^hite snow^drops jingled their bell-like
flowers, as if they w^ere real bells. Then
came many more flowers : blue violets,
]3urple heart's-ease, daisies, and lilies-of-the-
valley, and they all danced together, and
kissed each other. It was very beautiful
to behold.

When they stopped dancing, Ida w^ent
back to bed. In the morning, she ran to
look at her flower's and tJiey were quite
dead. She could not help thinking that
they had danced too much w^hile they
were sick. She put them in a neat box,
and her cousins dug a grave in the
garden and there she sorrowfully buried
them.

ANDEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 223

The Buckwheat.

Veey often, after a violent tliuncler-
storm, a field of buckwheat appears black-
ened and singed, as if a flame of fire bad
passed over it. The country people say
tbat this appearance is caused by lightning;
but I will tell you what the sparrow says,
and the sparrows heard it from an old

224 ANDERSEN'' S FAIRY TALES.

willow-ti'ee wlii<:'^ grew near a field of
buckwlaeat, and is t) ere still. It is a large,
venerable tree, tliougli a little crippled by-
age. The trunk has been split, and out
of the crevice grass and bi*ambles grow.
The tree bends forward slightly, and the
branches hang quite down to the ground
just like the green hair. Corn grows in all
the surrounding "fields, not only rye and
barley, but oats — pretty oats that, when
ripe, look like a number of little golden
canary-birds sitting on a bough. The corn
has a smiliag look, and the heaviest and
richest ears bend their heads low as if in
pious humility. Once there was also a
iield of buckwheat, and this was exactly
opposite to the old Avillow-tree. The buck-
wheat did not bend like the other grain,
but erected its head proudly and stiffly on
the stem. ^' I am as valuable as any other
corn," said he, ''and I am much hand-
somer ; my flowers are as beautiful as the
bloom of the apple blossom, and it is a
pleasure to look at us. Do you know of
anything prettier than we are, you old
willow-tree ? "

AN^BERSEW'S FAIRY TALES. 225

And the mllow-tree nodded Ms liead, as
if lie would say : " Indeed I do."

But tlie buckwheat spread itseK out
with pride, and said : " Stupid tree ; he is
so old that grass grows out of his body."

There arose a very terrible storm. All
the field-flowers folded their leaves to-
gether, or bowed their little heads, while
the storm passed OA^er them, but the
buckwheat stood erect in its pride.

226 AJSTDERSEX'S FAIRY TALES.

" Bend your liead as we do," said tlie
flowers.

" I liave no occasion to do so," replied
the buckwheat.

"Bend your head as we do," cried the
ears of corn ; " the angel of the storm is
coming; his wings spread from the sky
above to the earth beneath. He will strike
you do^^Ti before you can cry for mercy."

" But I will not bend my head," said the
buckwheat.

" Close your flowers and bend your
leaves," said the old willow-tree. "Do
not look at the lightning when the
cloud bursts ; even men cannot do that.
In a flash of lightning, heaven opens, and
we can look in ; but the sight will strike
even human beings blind. What then
must happen to us, who only grow out of
the earth, and are so inferior to them, if we
venture to do so ?"

" Inferior, indeed !" said the buckwheat.
"Now I intend to have a peep into
heaven." Proudly and boldly he looked
up, while the lightning flashed across the
sky as if the whole ^vorld ^vere in flames.

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 227

When tlie dreadful storm had jjassed,
tlie flowers and the corn raised their droop-
ing heads in the pure still air, refreshed by
the rain, but the buckwheat lay like a weed
in the field, burnt to blackness by the light-
ning. The branches of the old willow-tree

rustled in the wind, and large water-drops
fell from his green leaves as if the old
willow were weeping. Then the sparrows
asked why he was weeping, when all around
seemed so cheerful, and he told them the
story of the buckwheat.

228 AJSTDERSER'S FAIRY TALES.

Elder-Tree Mother.

There was once a little boy ^vlio liad
taken cold by going out and getting his
feet wet. No one could think how he had
managed to do so, for the weather was
quite dry. His mother undressed him and
put him to bed, and then she brought in
the teapot to make him a good cup of
elder-tea, which is so warming. At the
same time, the friendly old man, who lived
all alone at the top of the house, came in at
the door. He had neither wife nor child,

iXDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 229

but lie was very f oncl of cliildren, and knew
so many fairy tales and stories that it was
a pleasure to liear him talk. " Now, if you
drink your tea," said the mother, "very
likely you will have a story in the mean-
time."

^^Yes, if I could think of a new one,"
said the old man. ^' But how did the little
fellow get his feet wet V

" Ah ! that is what we cannot iind out."

" Well, I will tell you a story," said the
old man, " if you will tell me how deep the
water is in the street gutter."

" Just half w^ay up to my knees," said the
boy.

" It is easy to see how we got our feet
w^et," said the old man. " But now for the
story. Stop, there is a story in the tea-pot
now."

The little boy looked at the tea-pot, and
saw the lid raise, and long branches
sprouted out, until they grew into a large
elder-tree covered with flowers ; and oh,
how frao^rant the blossoms smelt. In the
midst of the tree sat a little old woman,
who came and took the little boy out of

L>:^0 ANDERSEX'S EAIRY TALKS,

bed and laid him on lier bosom. The
branches closed over them till they sat in a
leafy bower, and the bower flew away with
them through the air.

Then the elder-mother all at once changed
to a beautiful young maiden.

Her large blue eyes were very beautiful
to look at. She was the same age as the
boy ; and they kissed each other, and felt
very happy. They left the arbor together,
hand in hand, and found themselves in a
beautiful flower-garden, which belonged to
their home. On the green lawn was their
father's stick. There was life in this stick
for the little ones ; for no sooner did they
place themselves upon it than the white
knob changed into a pretty neighing head,
with a black flowing mane, and four long
slim legs sprung forth. " Hurrah ! now we
will ride many miles away," said the boy.
The little maiden, w^ho, we know, was
Ekler-tree mother, kept crying out : " Now
we are in the country. Do you see the
farmhouse, with a great baking-oven, which
sticks out from the wall by the roadside,
like a gigantic ^gg'^. There is an elder

ANDJERSEJST' S FAIRY TALES. 231

spreading its brandies over it, and a cock
is m arching about, and scratching for the
chickens. See how he struts ! Now we
are near the church. There it stands upon

the hill, shaded by the great oak trees, one
of which is half dead. See, here we are at
the blacksmith's forge. How the fire burns !
And the men are striking the hot iron with
the hammer, so that the sparks fly about.

232 ANDERSEN^'S FAIRY TALES,

Now tlien, away to tlie nobleman's beautiful
estate !" And tbe boy saw all tliat tlie
little girl spoke of as slie sat behind liim
on the stick.

They rode all over the whole country —
sometimes it was spring, then summer,
then autumn and winter followed.

"It is beautiful here in summer," said
Elder-tree mother, and then the corn waved
like the sea. Red and yellow flowers grew
among the hedges. In the evening the
moon rose round and full, and the hay
stacks in the meadoAvs filled the air with
their sweet scent. These were scenes never
to be forgotten. " It is lovely here also in
autumn," said the ittle maiden ; and then
the scene changed. The sky appeared
higher and more beautifully blue, w hile the
forest glowed with colors of red, green, and
gold. The hounds were off to the chase ;
large flocks of wild birds flew screaming
over the Huns' graves, where the black-
berry bushes twined round the old ruins.
" Again," said the maiden, " it is beautiful
here in winter." Then in a moment all the
trees were covered with hoar-frost, so that

ANDmiSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 233

they looked like white coral. The snow
crackled beneath the feet as if every one
had on new boots. In warm rooms there
could be seen the Christmas trees decked
out with presents, and lighted up amid
festivities and joy. In the country farm-
houses could be heard the sound of the
violin, and there were games for apples, so
that even the poorest child could say : " It
is beautiful in winter." And beautiful in-
deed were all the scenes which the maiden
showed to the little boy, and always around
them floated the fragrance of the elder-
blossom. Then, all at once, the little boy
lay in his bed again. He did not know
whether he had been dreaming or not.
The teapot stood on the table, but no
elder-tree grew out of it, and the old man
was just going out of the door.

" Mother," cried the boy, ^^ I have been
to warm countries."

" I can quite believe it," said she. " When
any one drinks two cups of elder-flower
tea, he may well get into warm countries ;"
and then she covered him up that he might
not take cold.

234 AJ^DUBSUN'S FAIRY TALES.

The
Old House.

In a city street
stood a very old
house. Verses were
wi'itten over the
windows in old-
fashioned letters,
and curiously
carved faces grin-

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 285

necl from under the cornices. At the
end of the leaden gutter was a dragon's
head. It was intended that the water
should come out of the dragon's mouth,
but it poured out of a hole in the
side. The other houses in the street
were quite new. Perhaps they thought :
"How long will that heap of rubbish
remain here to obstruct our view and dis-
ofrace us ?"

At the window of one of the new houses
opposite, sat a little boy with rosy cheeks.
Whatever the other houses thought, the
little boy was very fond of this old house
and he would sit and look at it for hours.
Certainly it was a very good house to look
at for amusement. An old man lived in it
who woi*e knee breeches and a wig, and
brass buttons on his coat. He would some-
times come to the window and then the
boy would nod at him and he would nod
back again, so they became good friends,
though they had never spoken to each
other. Every morning another old man
would come to wait on him? but othenvise
he was quite alone.

236 AN'DERSEN^'S FAIRY TALES.

One day tlie little boy lieard liis parents
say that the old man was well-off, but lie
was quite lonely. The next Sunday morn-
ing he \wa]3ped one of his tin soldiers in a
piece of paper, and took it across the street
and gave it to the old serving-man who
came to the door. " Please give this to the
gentleman who lives here," he said. " He
must be lonely, and a tin soldier is good to
play with." The old man was evidently
pleased, for the next day he sent his
attendant over to ask that the little boy
might visit him. When he went uj) to
the door, the carved trumpeters seemed
as if they were trying to blow harder than
ever.

When the door opened and he went in,
he found the great hall hung with pictures
of knights in armor and ladies in silk
gowns, and they all seemed to be glad to
see him. The old hio-h-backed chairs said :
"Creak, creak," and invited him to sit
down, but he went in to the room whei*e
the old man was.

" Thank you for the tin soldier," said the
old man.

ANDERSEN" S FAIRY TALES. 237

^' They say at home that you are very
lonely," said the boy.

'^ Oh," replied the old man, " I have
pleasant thoughts of the past for ni}^
company."

On the wall hung the pictui'e of a
beautiful young lady, dressed in the fashion
of the olden times, \\dth powdered hair, and
a full stiif skirt.

" Where did you get that picture ?" asked
the boy. " From the shop up the street,"

238 AWDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

answered the old man. " Many old portraits
hang there that nobody seems to care
about, because the people have been dead
and buried long since. But I knew this
lady many years ago. She too has been
dead nearly half a century."

Then the old man showed the boy a book
full of queer pictures of long processions of
people such as are never seen now, all
carrying banners. The tailors had a flag
wth a pair of scissors supported by two
lions, and on the shoemakers' flag there
were not boots, but an eagle with two
heads, for the shoemakers must have every-
thing arranged so that they can say : " This
is a ]3air." What a picture-book it was ;
and then the old man went into another
room and brought a23ples and nuts. It was
very ^^leasant, certainly, to be in that old
house.

How happy and delighted the little boy
was ; and after he returned home, and while
days and weeks passed, a great deal of
nodding took place from one house to the
other, and then the little boy went to j)ay
another visit. The carved trumpeters ble^v

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 239

*' Tanta-ra-ra. There is tlie little boy.
Tanta-ra-ra." Tlie swords and armor on
tlie old knights' pictures rattled. The silk
dresses rustled, and the old chairs cried:
" Creak." It was all exactly like the first

time. " I cannot bear it any longer," said
the tin soldier ; " I have wept tears of tin,
it is so melancholy here. Let me go to the
wars, and lose an arm or a leg, that would
be some change ; I cannot bear it."

240 ANDERSEN'S EAIEY TALES.

" You are given away," said the little
boy ; " you must stay. Don't you see
that?" Then the old man came in, with a
box containiog many curious things to
show him. The piano was opened, and
the old man played, but the piano sounded
quite out of tune. Then he looked at the
picture he had bought at the broker's, and
his eyes sparkled brightly as he nodded at
it, and said : '^ Ah, she could sing that tune."

'' I will go to the wars ! I will go to
the wars !" cried the tin soldier as loud as
he could, and threw himself down on the
floor. Where could he have fallen ? The
old man searched, and the little boy
searched, but he was gone, and could not
be found. The boards of the floor were
open and the tin soldier had fallen through
a crack. The day went by, and the little
boy returned home ; the week passed, and
many more weeks. It was winter, and the
windows were quite frozen, so the little
boy was obliged to breathe on the panes,
and rub a hole to peep through at the old
house. But nobody was at home, for the
old man was dead. A few days after,

a:^i)ERSEn''s fairy tales. 241

there was an auction at the old house, and
from his window the little boy saw the

people carrying away the pictures of old
knights and ladies, the old chairs, and the
cupboards. Her portrait, which had been

242 AN'BERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

bought at tlie picture-dealer's, went back
again to liis shop.

In the spring the old house was torn
down and a new one built in its place.
The boy grew to be a man, married and
went to live in the new house. One day
he was walking with his wife in the
garden, and his Avife, in planting a flower,
pricked her finger with something hidden
in the earth. "When they dug it out it was
the tin soldier. It Avas covered with rust,
and was not attractive, but when he told
his wife how it came there, she placed it on
the mantel-piece with the other ornaments.

" You must some day show me where the
old man is buried," said she.

"I do not knoAV wdiere he is buried,"
replied he ; " no one knows. All his friends
are dead ; no one took care of him, and I
was only a little boy."

"How dreadfully lonely he must have
have been," said she.

The tin soldier was noticed a great deal
for a while ; but finally he was neglected,
and became almost as lonely as he was in
the old house.

AJSTDERSEJ^'S FAIRY TALES. 243

The Last Pearl.

1^ a ricli, happy house, a son and heir
had just been born, and all the family ^yere
full of joy. The guardian angel of the
house leaned against the head of the bed
and spread over it a canopy filled with
stars, and each star was a pearl of happi-
ness. "Everything is here," said the
guardian angel ; " here sparkle health,
wealth, fortune and love — all that can be
wished for."

244 ANDERSEN'S EAIRY TALES,

^* No, not everything," said a voice — the
voice of the good angel of the child,; "• one
fairy has not yet brought her gift but she
will come some time. It is the last pearl
that is wanting."

" We will seek the fairy and get it," said
the angel of the house, " that the gifts may
be complete."

'' Then I will take you to the fairy," said
the good angel of the child. The fairy has
no abiding place. She rules in the palace
of the emperor, she visits the peasant's cot.
She goes to all houses and all hearts. Let
us find her and get this pearl — the only
gem lacking in all this wealth."

Then hand-in-hand they floated away to
the spot where the fairy was now lingering.
It was a large house with dark windows
and empty rooms, in which a peculiar still-
ness reigned. A whole row of windows
stood open, so that the rude wind could
enter at its pleasure, and the long white
curtains waved to and fro in the current of
air. In the centre of one of the rooms
stood an open coffin, in which lay the body
of a young woman, still in the bloom of

AN'DERSER'S FAIRY TALES, 245

youth, and A'ery beautiful. Fresli roses
were scattered over lier. Tlie delicate
folded hands and the noble face, glorified
in death by the solemn, earnest look, which
spoke of an entrance into a better ^vorld,
were alone visible. Around the coffin stood

husband and children, the youngest in the
father's arms. They were come to take a
last farewell look of their mother. The
husband kissed her hand, which now lay
like a withered leaf, but which a short
time before had been diligently employed
in deeds of love for them all. Tears of

246 AIS^DERSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

sorrow rolled down their cheeks, and fell
in heavy drops on the floor, but not a word
was spoken. With silent steps, still sob-
bing, they left the room. Strange men
came in and placed the lid of the coffin
over the dead, and drove the nails firmly
in ; while the blows of the hammer echoed
in the hearts that were bleeding.

" Whither art thou leading me V asked
the guardian angel. ''Here dwells no
fairy whose pearl could be counted amongst
the best gifts of life."

"Yes, she is here," replied the angel,
pointing to a corner of the room; and
there — where in her life-time, the mother
had taken her seat amidst flowers and
pictures ; in that spot, where she, like the
blessed fairy of the house, had welcomed
husband, children, and friends, and, like a
sunbeam, had spread joy and cheerfulness
around her, the centre and heart of them
all — there, in that very spot, sat a strange
woman, clothed in long, flowing garments,
and occupying the place of the dead wife
and mother. It was the fairy, and her
name was "Sorrow" A hot tear rolled

ANDEBSEJ^'S FAIMY TALES. 247

into herlap, and formed itself into a pearl,
glowing witli all tlie colors of the rainbow.
The angel seized it : the pearl glittered like
a star with seven -fold radiance. The
pearl of Sorrow, which must not be want-
ing, increases the lustre, and explains fhe
meaning of all the other pearls.

The Ice Maiden.

Little Kudy lived in a pretty valley of
the Alps. It is on these mountains that
the Ice Maiden lives, she of whom the old
people talk in whispers, for she does not
like men, and she lies in wait for them in
the clefts and on the high peaks. She
builds for herself great palaces that glisten
in the sun, and sometimes show all the
colors of the rainbow. She piles the snow
high in the passes and sometimes sends it
sliding down the sides of the mountain.
Then the people turn white with fear, and
say the avalanche is coming.

But Rudy was not afraid of the Ice
Maiden. He clambered about the mount-
ain peaks like the chamois, who were more

248 AKDI:ESE^^'s faiby tale^.

afraid of him than of the older hunters for
he was a good shot, and he could climb
nearer to them when they thought them-
selves in safe places.

When Rudy was a very little boy, his
mother started with him in her arms to
visit his grandfather over the moimtain. It
had been snowing for several days and
now the snow lay deep on the ledges. In
crossing one of these the snow gave way
and she and Rudy fell into a cleft. When
they were taken out Rudy was alive, but
his mother was dead.

As Rudy grew older, all the maidens
w^ere in love with him, but he had eyes
only for one — the miller's daughter,
Babette. So bold and handsome a lad was
not to be refused, so when he asked her to
marry him, she blushed and consented.
They went to Yilleneuve to be married,
and while Babette's father took his after-
dinner nap, they rowed on the lake to a
little island. As they sat on the shore, a
sudden storm of wind arose and the boat
broke her mooring and was fast drifting.
Rudy was a good swimmer, and he jumped

AjtvjjJi;jt^M;JV';s rAluy TALES. 24&

into the lake and swam for the boat. The
Ice Maiden kissed him as he swam, and he
grew stiff with cold and sank. As Babette
watched for him on the shore, the lightning
flashed, and she saw his body, and the Ice
Maiden stood with one foot pressing him
down, and so they floated out of her sight.

The Darning Needle.

Theee was once a darning needle who
thought herself so fine as to be fit for em-
broidery. ^^ Hold me tight," she would
say to the fingers, when they took her up,
" don't let me fall ; if you do I shall
break." The fingers one day placed the

250 ANDER&EN'S FAIRY TALES,

point of the needle against tlie cook's slip-
per; there was a crack in the upper
leather, which had to be sewn together.

^' AVhat coarse work," said the darning
needle. " I shall never get through. I
shall break ! — I am breaking ! " and sure
enough she broke. '' Did I not say so ?"
said the darning needle. " I am too fine for
such work."

" The needle is useless for sewing now,"
said the fingers, but they still held it fast,
and the cook dropped some sealing-wax
on the needle, and fastened her hand-
kerchief with it in front.

"So now I am a breast-pin," said the
darning-needle ; " I knew very well I
should come to honor some day : merit is
sure to rise ;" and she laughed quietly to
herself. And there she sat as proudly as
if she were in a state coach, and looked all
around her. " May I be allowed to ask if
you are made of gold ? " she inquired of
her neighbor, a pin; "you have a veiy
pretty appearance, and a curious head,
although you are rather small. You must
take pains to grow, for it is not every one

AI^DERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES. 251

wlio lias sealing-wax dropped upon liim ; "
and as slie spoke, tlie darning-needle drew

herself u|) so proudly tliat she fell out of
the handkerchief right into the sink, which
the cook was cleaning. ^Now I am going

on a joiiniey,' said tlie needle, as she
floated a^vay ^^ itli tlie dirty water ; " I do
liope I sliall not be lost." But she really
was lost in a gutter. '^ I am too fine for
this world," said the darning-needle, as she
lay in the gutter ; " but I know who I am,
and that is always some comfort."

One day something lying clost. to the
darning-needle glittered so splendidly that
she thouo^ht it was a diamond ; yet it was
only a piece of broken bottle. The darning-
needle spoke to it, because it sparkled, and
represented herself as a breast-pin. " I sup-
l>osQ you are really a diamond ? " she said.

"Why yes, something of the kind," he
replied.

"I have been in a lady's work-box,"
said the darning-needle, '' and this lady was
the cook. She had on each hand ^ve
fingers, and anything so conceited as these
five fingers I have never seen."

" Were they not high-born ? "

" High-born ! " said the darning-needle,
*' no, indeed, but so haughty."

One day a couple of street boys were
paddling in the gutter, for they sometimes

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES 253

found old nails, farthings, and other treas-
ures. '' Hallo !" cried one, as he pricked
himself with the darning-needle, " here's a
fellow for you."

^^ I am not a fellow, I am a young lady,"
said the darning-needle ; but no one heard
her.

The sealing-wax had come off, and she
was quite black ; but black makes a person
look slender, so she thought herself even
finer than before.

" Here comes an egg-shell sailing along/'

254 A^^DERSEN''S FAIRY TALES.

said one of tlie boys; so they stuck the
darning-needle in the egg-shell, and it floated
along.

"• White walls, and I am black myself,"
said the darning-needle ; " that looks well.
Now I can be seen, but I hope I shall not
be sea-sick, or I shall break again." She
was not sea-sick, and she did not break. '' It
is a good thing against sea-sickness to have
a steel stomach and not to forget one's own
importance. Now my sea-sickness is past ;
delicate people can stand a great deal."

Crack went the shell, as a wagon passed
over it. ^' Good heavens, hoAV it crushes !"
said the darning-needle ; but she did not
break, though the wagon went over her as
she lay at full length in the gutter; and
there let her lie.

ANDERSEN'' S FAIRY TALES. 255

The Child in the Grave.

There was mourning in tlie house, sor-
row in every heart. The youngest child, a
boy four years old, the joy and hope of his
parents, had died. There still remained to
them two daughters, the elder of whom
was about to be confirmed — good, charming
girls both ; but the child that one has lost
always seems the dearest ; and here it was
the youngest, and a son. The sisters
mourned as young hearts can, and were

256 ANDEBSER'S FAIRY TALES.

especially moved at the siglit of their
parents' sorrow. The father was bowed
down, and the mother completely struck
down by the great grief. Day and night
she had been busy about the sick child,
and had tended, lifted, and carried it ; she
had felt how it was a part of herself.

In her grief she fell away from God, and
then there came dark thoughts, thoughts of
death, of everlasting death, that man was
but dust in the dust, and that mth this life
all was ended.

In her heaviest hours she could weep no
more, and she thought not of the young
daughters who were still left to her. The
stare of her husband fell upon her forehead,
but she did not look at him. Her thoughts
were with the dead child.

The coffin was carried to the grave.
The disconsolate mother sat mth her young
daughters. She looked at her daughters,
and yet did not see them, for her thoughts
were no longer busy at the domestic hearth.
She gave herself up to her grief, and grief
tossed her to and fro as the sea tosses a
ship without compass or rudder. So the

AI^DE'ESEN'S FAIRY TALES. 257

day of tlie funeral passed away, and similar
days followed, of dark, wear^dng pain.
Witli moist eyes and mournful glances, the
sorrowing daughters and the afflicted hus-
band looked upon her who would not hear
their words of comfort.

It seemed as though she knew sleep no
more ; and yet He ^\^ould now have been
her best friend, who would have strength-
ened her body, and poured peace into her
soul. They persuaded her to seek her
couch, and she lay still there, like one who
slept. One night her husband was listen-
ing, as he often did, to her breathing, and
fully believed that she had now found rest
and relief. He folded his arms and prayed,
and soon fell into a deep healthy sleep;
and thus he did not notice that his wife
rose, threw on her clothes, and silently
glided from the house, to go where her
thoughts always lingered — to the grave
which held her child.

She stole through the garden and passed
into the field beyond, where a foot-path
led to the ch arch-yard. No one saw her ;
she saw no one. It was a beautiful, starry

2.^R ANBERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES.

night, the air was mild. She entered the
church-yard, she reached the little grave ;
it was like one large bouquet of fragrant
t flowers. She sat down and bowed her
head over the grave, as though through the
thick covering of earth she could discern
the dear little boy whose smile she re-
membered so well.

Some time passed away. Was it a
dream? for a voice close in her ear ad-
dressed her. " What wilt thou ? go down
into the grave to thy child ? " it demanded.
That voice so deep, yet so clear — it thrilled
her very soul. She looked up, and saw
standing beside her a man wrapped in a
heavy black cloak, and with a hood over
his head, but she could see his face under
the hood, and though stern, that face in-
spired confidence, and his eyes, though
grave, sparkled with the fire of youth.

"" Darest thou follow me ? " inquired the
form. "For I am Death." She bowed
her head in token of assent. All at once
the thousands of stars above shone each
w^ith a splendor like that of the full moon ;
then for a moment the bright varied colors

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, 259

of the flowers on the grave glittered before
her; then they too vanished, the surface of
the earth yielded beneath her feet like soft
hovering drapery, and she sank. Death
had spread his black mantle over her, and
all was, darkness.

The long lappets of Death's black man-
tle fell aside, and she stood in a wide hall,
a pleasant soothing twilight surrounding
her. But close to her she beheld her
child, and in another second held him
tight to her heart. He smiled on her
more sweetly, more joyously than ever dur-
ing his life-time ; she uttered a cry, but it
was not audible, for the hall was iilJed
with the sound of music, now swelling
high and loud, now dying away.

" My sweet mother ! my own mother ! "
said the child. It was the old familiar
voice ; kiss followed kiss — what happiness
was this for the poor mother ! '' Look,
look!" he cried; 'Hhere is nothing like
this on earth ! see what a blessed land !

But the mother could see nothing save
black night ; she saw with earthly eyes,
not ^^ the child whom God had called to

2 0 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

Himself could see. Likewise witli tlie
music, she could hear tlie sweet tones, but
could not understand the words.

^' Now I can fly, mother," said the child;
" fly together with all the other happy
children, straight into the Paradise of God.
O, I love that so much ; but when you
weep as you are weeping ncr\v, it calls me
back, and I cannot fly."

She kissed him again and again, holJ^'iig
him fast the while. All at once her name
was called overhead in such a sad, im-
]3loring tone ! what could it mean ? " O,
don't you hear?" said the child; "it is
father calling thee."

And again she heard deep sighs, sighs
as from the hearts of weeping children.
"My sisters !" exclaimed the child.

" Mother, the bells of Paradise are ring-
ing," said the child. " Mother, the sun is
rising ! " And an overpowering light
streamed forth upon her — and lo ! the
child was gone, and she was lifted up.
All was cold around her; she lifted her
head, and found herself lying in the church-
yard among the flowers of her child's grave.

AITDERSEN^'S FAIRY TALES. 2G1

What the Moon Saw.

I AM a poor boy in one of the narrowest
back streets of a great town. I have plenty
of light, for my room is at the top of the
house. When I first came to live there I

262 AlSfD^ERSEA^'S FAIRY TALES.

felt very lonely and dispirited ; instead of
the green woods round my home, I had only
the smoky chimneys for my horizon. At
last, an old familiar face looked into mine,
a friend from my lost home — the only thing
that was not altered round me — the dear
old moon ! She shone in upon me with
her kind, round, beaming face, just as she
shone between the willows on the moor. I
kissed my hand to her, and she shone
straight into my room and promised to tell
me of the thins^s which she had seen.

These are some of the tales she told me.
The Spinning-Wheel.

" Some years ago," said the moon, " I was
in Copenhagen. I looked in at the window
of a poorly-furnished room. The father
and mother were sleeping soundly, but the
little child was wide awake. Close by stood
the mother's spinning-wheel, and of all the
things in the house the child loved the
spinning-wheel best of all. Perhaps be-
cause he might never touch it. And now,
father and mother were asleep ; he looked
first at them, then at the wheel, and soon
afterwards came one little, naked foot, and

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 203

then another, out of the bed, then two little
white legs, and then — bang ! there he stood
on the floor. He turned once more to see
if his father and mother really slept ; yes,
they slept soundly ; and gently, in his short,
white nightshirt, he pattered across to the
wheel and began to spin. I kissed his
golden hair and bright, blue eyes ; it was a
pretty picture. The curtain moved ; his
mother woke and looked out, and thought
she saw a a little elf at play. ^ For heaven's
sake, wake and tell me what it is !' she cried,
to her husband. He started up and rubbed
his eyes at sight of the busy, happy child.
' Why, it is our Bertel !' he cried.

"That," said the moon, "I saw years ago.
But only yesterday, as I was looking on a
bay in the eastern coast of Zealand, and
lighting up its woods and hills, I saw a
torchlight procession of boats cross the
quiet waters of the bay. They were not
out for the eeMishing ; it was a great
solemnity. Music rose from the boats, a
song was sung, and I heard them cheer:
* Hurrah for Bertel Thorwaldsen ! ' Then I
thoi^ght of the little boy spinning.''

264 AWDERSEJSr'S FAIRY TALES.

The Clown and the Columbine.

" I know a clown," said the moon, "who
sets the theatre in a roar at the very sight
of him, and that by no great art ; it is his
very nature that makes him so comic. He
was a born clown when he was a little lad
romping with his playfellows. If he had
been tall and slender he would have been
the first tragedian, for his soul was fired
with great and heroic thoughts ; as it was,
he played the part of clown.

" The pretty columbine was very kind to
him, but, for all that, she preferred the
harlequin for a husband.

*'When the clown was in his saddest
mood she was the only one who could
make him break out into loud laughter ;
at first she would be sad as he was, then
calmer, then full of painful merriment. ^ I
know what is the matter with you,' she
cried ; ' you are in love ! '

" ' I in love ! ' he cried ; ^ that would
be a capital farce; how the public
would applaud !'

" ' Yes, you are in love', she went on ;
* and what is more, you are in lovii with

266 AMDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

me ! ' The clown executed a clever leap,
and all his melancholy was gone. And yet
the pretty columbine had spoken the truth.

"A few days ago the poor columbine
died; and the harlequin was allowed to be
absent. The manager wanted to bring out
something very comic, so that the public
might not feel the loss of the harlecpnu
and columbine, and therefore the clown
was required to be doubly amusing; he
danced and leaped, and the public was
quite satisfied. ' Bravo, bravissimo ! ' they
cried, and applauded frantically.

^'Late at night, when the performance
was over, he wandered out of the town
to the lonely cemetery. The wTeath of
flowers upon the columbine's grave was
already faded; the clown sat doAvn upon
the grave, his head leaning upon his hand,
his eyes upturned to me. It was a scene
for a painter — the clown, in his gay dress,
sitting on the columbine's grave."

As I looked at him in his gay dress, but
with a sad, sorrowful face, I wondered
what the public would say if they saw
him as I did.

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 267

By the Ganges.

" Last niglit," tlie moon said, " I glided
througli the clear air of the Indian land
and watched my reflection in the sacred
Ganges. A Hindoo maiden stole out of
the thicket, fair as Eve, light as the young
gazelle.

" I could read the thoughts through her
fine, transparent skin ; the thorny lianas
tore her sandals ; but she trod hurriedly
forwards ; the wild beast returning from
the river, whither it had gone to quench
its thirst, sprang aside in terror, for the
maiden held in her hand a burning lamp.

268 ANDERSEK'S FAIItY TALES.

She approached the river, placed the
lamp tenderly in the swift current, and
watched it glide swiftly away ; the flame
shook and quivered, as if it were on the
point of being extinguished, but it burnt
on, and the girl's dark, gleaming eyes, half
veiled by their long, silken lashes, followed
it with an anxious glance. She knew that
if the light burnt on as long as the lamp
was in sight, her lover was still alive ; but if
it went out, it was a sign that he was dead.
" The lamp burned bright, and her heart
beat in thankfulness; she sank upon her
knees and prayed."

Pe and Soui-Hong.

" Last night I looked down upon a lawn
in China," said the moon. "My rays lit
up the bare walls that form the streets;
here and there is a gate, but it is tightly
shut, for what matters the world outside
to a Chinaman ? At the foot of an altar
sat a young priest ; he seemed to be pray-
ing, but in the midst of his prayer he
sank into a reverie; a sinful reverie it
must have been, for his cheeks glowed

AJSTDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 269

fever red. I know whither his thoughts
were wandering. At the remotest end
of the town, on the flat stone-paved
roof where the parapet seems built of
porcelain, there stands the fair Pe, with
her slanting, roguish eyes, her pouting lips,
and her tiny feet. Her slipper was narrow,
but her heart was narrower still. Before

her stood a glass bowl of gold and silver
fish; she stirred the water softly with a
thin, painted stick ; very softly ; for she
too was dreamino;.

" She was not thinking of the gold and
silver iish in the bowl ; her thoughts were
far away toward the temple, where the
young priest stood at the foot of the altar."

270 AI^DERSEN'S FAIEY TALES.

By the Hun's Grave.

" Along the shore stretches a fragrant
Avood of oaks. The great road passes here
and near it is the heap of stones marking
the Hun's grave. A carriage came rolling
by, and the 23assengers admired the oaks,
but had no eyes for the heap of stones.

"Then there came up a painter. His
eyes sparkled, and he whistled aloud. The
nightingales answered j one outvying tha

A.JSIJJ^K^KN'IS FAIRY TALES. 271

other. ' Hold your noise !' lie cried, as he
noted down all the colors and half-tints.
' Blue, lilac, madder-brown : it will make a
capital picture.'

" Last of all there came up a poor girl ;
she sat down to rest on the Hun's grave,
and laid down her burden ; her sweet, pale
face turned towards the forest, her eyes
shone bright as they gazed on sea and sky.
Her hands were folded as if she were in
prayer. She did not understand her own
feeling ; but I know that in years to come,
the landscape will live fairer and truer in
her memory than on the painter's canvas."

The Long Journey. '

" I knew an old maid," said the moon ;
''■ every winter she wore a yellow cloak ; it
it was her only one, so it was always in
fashion. Every summer she wore the same
bonnet and the same blue gown.

^^ She visited no one but an old lady who
lived just opposite her, and last year she
visited no one at all ; her friend was dead.
All alone, the old maid sat sewing at her
windoWj where in the summer there bloomed

272 AKDEBSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

some pretty flowers, and in the winter a box
of fresh cresses. Last month I missed her
from her place in the window ; but I knew
she was alive, for I had not yet seen her

stalls on the long journey about which she
and her friend talked so often.

" ^ Yes,' she used to say, ' when I come to
die I shall go a longer journey than I have
ever taken yet in my whole life. Our

ANDERSEN'S FAIEY TALES, 273

family vault is six miles from here, outside
the town, and I shall have to be taken there
that I may sleep among my own people.'

" Yesterday a hearse stopped before the
house, a coffin was carried out, and I knew
that she was dead ; the coffin w^as placed
inside the hearse, and away they drove on
the long journey."

The Children and the Stork.

" A little girl sat watching a stork who
had built her nest on the old oak tree.
A little boy came out and stood by the
little girl; they were brother and sister.
' What are you looking at ? ' he said.

" ^ I am looking at the stork,' she said ;
Hhe neighbor's wife says he is going to
bring us a little brother or sister to-day,
and I want to see him bring it.'

" ^ He will do no such thing,' said the
boy ; ^ I know better. She told me the
very same thing, but I saw her laugh when
she said it ; and. I asked her if she dared
say, ''upon my soul and honor," and she
dared not, so I know that it is all a tale
to amuse us children with.'

274 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES

" ^ But where mil it come from, then V
" ' God will bring it,' said the boy. ' He
carries the babies under His cloak ; but no
one can see Him, so that we shall not be

able to see Him when He brings it.' At
the same moment the branches of the elder
tree rustled overhead ; the children clasp-
ed their hands and looked at each other ;
it was certainly God, who was come to
bring the baby.

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, 275

" The cottage door opened and the
neighbor's wife looked out. ' Come in/
said she, smiling ; 'come and see what the
stork has brought you ; it is a little
brother.' "

The Little Girl and the Chickens.

"Yesterday," said the moon, "I was
looking down into a little court-yard ;
there I saw a hen and eleven chickens ; a
pretty little girl was plapng round them.
The hen was frightened and spread her
wings over the brood ; and the little girl's
father came out and scolded the child.

276 AN^BEnSEN' S FAIRY TALES. '

To-uight I liappened to be looking clown
into tlie self-same yard. The little girl
came out, stole on tip-toe to tlie hen-house,
and crept in among the hens and chickens,
who had been for an hour or two sitting
quietly on their perches, but who now
jumped down.

" They cackled and clucked in a great
fright, and the little girl ran after them, I
saw it all clearly, for I was looking through
a hole in the wall. I felt quite angry
with the naughty girl, and was very glad
when her father came out, and, seizing her
roughly by the arm, scolded her more
severely than before, and I thought that
she deserved it.

" She threw back her head, and great
tears stood in her blue eyes. ^ What are
you doing here ? ' he cried.

^^ She wept. ' I wanted to go in and
kiss the hen,' she said, ' and ask her to
forgive me for frightening her as I did
yesterday.'

"Her father kissed her on her sweet
innocent brow ; and I, too, kissed her eyes
and lips."

Airj)EIiSE]Sr'S FAIBY TALES, nl

The Comedy.

"This evening I saw a German play
acted," said tlie moon. " It was in a little
town. A stable liad been turned into a
theatre. A little iron chandelier hung be-
neath the ceiling, and that it might be
made to disappear into the ceiling, as it
does in great theatres, when the ting -tin cj

278 ANDEliSiJJ^'H PAUtT TALES.

of the prompter's bell is heard, a great in-
verted tub had been placed just above it.
'^ ^ Ting-ting /' and the little iron chande-
lier suddenly rose at least half a yard and
disappeared in i;he tub ; and that was the
sign that the play was going to begin. A
young nobleman and his lady, who hap-
pened to be passing through the little
town, were present at the performance,
and consequently the house was crowded.
But under the chandelier was a vacant
place like a little crater ; not a single soul
sat there, for the talloAv^ was dropping,
drip, drip ! I saw everything, for it was
so warm in there that every loophole had
been opened. The male and female ser-
vants stood outside, peeping through the
chinks, although a real policeman was in-
side, threatening them with a stick. Close
by the orchestra could be seen the noble
young couple in two old arm-chairs, which
were usually occupied by his worship the
mayor and his lady ; but these latter wei'e
to-day obliged to content themselves with
wooden forms, just as if they had been
ordinary citizens.

ANDEHSEJST'S FAIHY tales. 279

" The town did not often receive visits
from persons of nobility, and the people
were never tired of gazing on the young
nobleman and his lady, or of talking about
them, though the talk was not compli-
mentary.

" ^ That shows how one bird of prey drives
out another,' was the whispered remark of
the townspeople ; and everything seemed
to be more solemn and imposing. The
candles sputtered, the crowd was rapped
on the knuckles, and I shone through the
whole comedy.

"The nobleman and his lady no doubt
went away thinking that they had made a
great impression on the people by taking
the seats of the mayor and his lady, and
making them sit on the wooden forms with
the conmaon people. But they were thought
no better of, nor were the mayor and his
lady thought any worse of, but there was
more talking about them.'*

'jeo ANi)EusEif*s PAmr talm.

The Marsh King's Daughter.

The storks tell to their young ones
many a story, whicli are almost always
tales of the moorland and the sedge ; and
they are ahvays adapted to the age of the
listener. The very youngest are satisfied
if they hear " Kribble - krabble - plurry -
m,urry ;" they think that is very nice ; but
the elder ones like something with a deeper
meaning, or a fragment of family history.
One of the very oldest stories told by the
storks is known to us all ; it is that of
Moses lying among the reeds on the banks

ANDERSEN'S FAIMY TALES ^Sl

of the Nile. The second is not nearly so
widely known. It has been handed down
for thousands of years from mother stork
to mother stork.

The first pair of storks who brought
over the story, and were mixed up in it

themselves, had their summer residence in
the Viking's palace on the moorland in
Wendy ssel, at the northern point of Jut-
land. The place is still a vast, desolate
moor, and whatever attempts to pass over
it sinks out of sight.

One evening the father stork stayed out

282 AJSrDi::RSI!N'S FAIBY TALES.

very late, and when he came home he said
he had seen the princess whom they knew
in Egypt. He had been to the moor, and,
he said, " the princess came there with two
of her maids, all in the shape of swans.
The princess took off her swan's dress,
and gave it to her maids to hold while she
looked for a flower which grew there, and
which she said was the only thing that
would cure her sick father in Egypt. The
maids tore the robe into j)ieces and flew
away.

" The princess cried aloud, and her tec*,rs
fell on the alder stump. It was no com-
mon alder ; it was the marsh king himself,
who reigns over the whole moor. I saw
him stretch out his knotty arms like long,
shining branches, and clutch at the prin-
cess. The poor child fled from him in
terror ; she sped along the green, shaking
bog ; but the ground would not bear my
weight, much less hers, and I saw her sink
below the fen, and the alder stump fol-
lowed her and dragged her down. Black
bubbles rose from the marsh, and then
every trace of them had vanished. The

284 A^DEHSIJN'S FAinr TALM.

princess lies buried in tlie marsb, and will
never bring a flower to Egypt. It would
have broken your heart, little motlier, if you
had seen it.

" I shall go there every day to see if any-
thing comes of it," said the father stork;
and so he did.

A long time passed away, and then the
stork saw a stem rise from the pond. When
it had pierced the surface of the water, it
unfolded into a cluster of leaves, with one
large bud in the centre. The stork flew over
the pond and saw the bud open under the
burning sun ; inside the flower lay a lovely
little baby, as fresh and bright as if it had
just left its bath. It looked so like the
Egyptian princess, that for a moment the
stork thought that it must be she ; but when
he had taken time to reflect, he decided
that it was the child of the princess and the
marsh king who lay sleeping in the water-
lily.

" She cannot possibly stay here," said the
father stork ; and there are too many of us
already in the nest. Stay ! I know what I
will do with her. The Viking's wife has

AJSTBEESEN'S FAIRY TALES. 285

no children ; she has often longed for a little
one, and I hear them say the stork mil

bring one some day. I will take them at
their word. How delighted they will all be !"

286 AJSTDERSEJST'S FAIRY TALE^

The stork lifted the little creature from
the lily, flew to the Viking's palace, and
laid, the baby in the lap of the Viking's
wife.

The Viking's mfe was delighted with
the little baby. She kissed it and caressed
it, but the little thing fought her, and
scratched her, and was as wild as a tiger.
At last it cried itself to sleep ; then night
came and the Viking's wife folded her in
her arms and went to sleep too. In the
night she awoke and missed her baby. She
hunted all over the bed but could not find
it. At the foot of the bed, however, lay an
ugly green frog. The Viking's wife was
about to throw it outdoors, but it looked
at her so pitifully that she let it remain.
In the morning, the frog was gone, but in
its place lay the beautiful, cross baby. The
Viking's wife learned the secret. In the
daytime the child looked like its mother,
but had the ugly disposition of its father,
the marsh king ; in the night it changed to
a frog, but had the lovely disposition of the
princess. The Viking was away, and his
wife determined not to tell him about it.

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 287

but to let him see the child only in the day
time. So the child grew to be a beautiful
maiden, but so wild that she made the
Viking's wife a great deal of trouble.

The storks had been to Egypt many
times. The young storks were grown and
they had delightful times on the Nile But
in the palace there was no pleasure. The
two maids had come back and treacherously

288 ANDERSEN'S EAIJIY TALES.

told that the young princess had been shot
by a bowman. The master lay stiff and
helpless, waiting for the magic flower that
alone could cure him.

The little girl at the "Viking's house had
been named Helga. As she grew older, she
seemed to get wilder; only as evening aj)-
proached was she to be reasoned with, and
when the sun had set, and her form had
changed, she would sit cowering in the
shadow. Her body was much larger than
that of the largest frog, and all the more
hideous because of its size. She looked
like a misshapen dwarf with a frog's head
and webbed fingers. Her eyes were very
sorrowful, and her voice was like the inar-
ticulate sobbing of a child in its sleep. The
Viking's wife Avould take her on her knees,
forgetting her ugly shape; and, looking into
her piteous eyes, she often said : '^ I almost
wish you would stay always in your pre-
sent form. My silent frog-child is not so
terrible as the beautiful girl I see by day."

The Viking returned from one of his
many warlike excursions, and brought with
him, as a prisoner^ a young* Christian priest.

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. 289

Helga lieard them tell liow they were
going to put him to death, and she thought
it would be sport to see them. But when
it came night, and she had become a frog,
she felt sorry for the poor priest. She

crept to tlie dungeon where he lay, cut his
bonds, and hopped away to the stable and
showed him a fleet horse. He leaped upon
the horse, took the frog in front of him
and galloped away. As soon as the sun
rose, the priest was astonished to see the

290 ANDERSEN'' S FATRY TALES.

frog changed to a beautiful maiden, wlio
jumped from the horse and tried to run
away. Fearing witchcraft, he offered a
prayer and made the sign of the cross, and
immediately Helga was subdued.

There was a fierce struggle going on in
Helga's heart, but the priest prayed until
the spell was broken and she became as
gentle as a lamb. Then he took her again
on the horse, but he made her ride behind
him, and they galloped on. Towards
evening they fell in with a band of
robbers who killed the priest and took
Helga with them away oif toward the
moor.

But when the sun set the spell returned
and Helga was changed to a frog. The
robbers thought she had run away and
they went in search of her, leaving the
frog to hop away into the bushes un-
molested. The Christian's prayers were
sunk deep into her heart, and she sat and
sobbed all through the night. At last she
prayed herself that she might have her
nature changed, and a great peace came
into her soul. Then the sun arose, and

ANDERSEN'S FAIUY TALES. 291

the dead priest a];)peared to lier, sitting
on his liorse, witli a cross in his hand.
" Child of clay," said the Christian

292 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

jDrlest, ^' tlioii wast made of the dust of the
earth, and from that dust thou shalt one
day rise again. The light within thee is a
ray from God Himself, and aspires back
to its source. I am come from the land
of death. I cannot lead thee to Hedebei
to receive Christian baptism until thou
hast drawn from the pond on the moor the
living root of thy being." He raised her on
the horse and placed in her hand a golden
censer ; a cloud of richest incense rose from
it, and the wounds in the forehead of the
priest shone like a wreath of stars. He
lifted the cross, and the horse started away
through the forest.

On sped the horse, across marsh and
moor and swamp, tow^ards the lonely pond.
The priest lifted the cross; it shone like
gold. He sang aloud his litanies, and fair
Helga joined her voice with his, as a child
tries to falter out the hymns w^hich its
mother sings ; she swung the golden censer
to and fro, and every rush and reed broke
out into blossom; a host of water-lilies
rose to the surface of the desolate pond, and
lay there like a gauzy veil of blossom; the

204 AN'DERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

liicklen life in every seed and bud broke
fortli in flowers, and, stretclied out along the
pure, white petals, lay a sleeping woman,
young and fair. Helga looked into tlie
sleeping face, and tliought for a moment
that it was her own reflection in the water ;
but it was her mother whom she saw, the
Egyptian princess from the shores of the
Nile.

The priest lifted up the sleeping form on
to the horse, but the phantom steed sank
under the weight, as if his body were but
a cere-cloth floating in the wind. The sign
of the cross was traced above it, and the
airy shape grew strong, and bore its triple
load away from the fen to the dry land.

As they touched the shore the cock
crowed ; the phantc .ns melted away ;
but the mother and child stood face
to face.

" Is it I myself who look out from the
waters ?" cried the mother.

" Is it I myself who rise from the green
sedge V said Helga.

And in a moment mother and child lay
clasped in each other's arms.

ANDERSEN'' S FAIRY TALES. 295

Just tlieii the old father stork appeared
in the reeds, mth two swan's ropes v/hich
he laid at their feet. With much clapping
of his beak he told them what he had heard
the two lying princesses say to the king
lying sick by the Nile, and how he could
not be satisfied until he had punished them ;

so he stole their swan's dresses, and he and
his sons had brought them all the way from
Eg3rpt. The mother and daughters soon
put on the robes and went sailing away
through the air.

Helga was sadly missed by the Viking's
wife, who thought of her night and day.

296 AN'BERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

One night she dreamed tliat Helga was in her
frog-like sha]3e and she hekl her on her knee.

She pressed a kiss on Helga's forehead,
and the hideons disguise fell away ; Helga
stood before her in all her beauty, sweet,
gentle, and loving. She kissed her foster-
mother's hands, thanked and blessed her for
all her love and sorrow. " The Christ has
conquered," she said, and then she rose up
like a stately swan, spread her white wings,
and flew away.

The Viking's wife awoke at the sound of
the fluttering wings. She hurried to the
window and saw the flocks of storks circling
round the palace turrets. Opposite the
place where she stood, and just over the
well where Helga's wilful ways had so often
filled her heart with dread, two white swans
lingered and looked back at her with mild,
loving eyes.

The swans bent their necks, as if in greet-
ing ; the Viking's wife spread out her arms
and smiled, with tears in her eyes.

Then, with much clapping of beaks and
rustling of wings, the whole army of stoiks
and swans turned southward and flew away.

ANBERSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

There was great rejoicing wlien the
princess and Helga amved in Egypt,
where the storks visited them every year.

298 ANDERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES.

The Emperor's New Clothes.

Many years ago, there was an emperor
who had a new suit of clothes for every
hour. He cared nothing for anything but
new clothes. On a certain day two men
arrived in the town and gave out that they

ARBERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, 299

were weavers, and tliat they had a most
wonderful fabric, that was so fine that it
could not be seen by any one who was stupid
or who was not fit for his position.

The emperor sent for them to weave and
make him a suit of clothes of the wonder-
ful cloth, for, said he, it will show me who
are unfit among my ofiicers. So the two
men set up their looms and they worked
away at them when anyone was near; but

300 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

they worked in tlie air, for there was nothing
at all in the looms.

The emperor sent in his prime minister
to look at the c]oth. The two rogues were
very polite ; they wished him to step nearer,
and inquired whether he did not think the
pattern very pretty and the colors brilliant.

" Grood gracious !" he said to himself, *' am
I becoming stupid or unfit for my position T

''Now what do you think of our work ?"
asked the two weavers.

" Oh, it is beautiful, lovely," said the
bewildered old gentleman, looking through
his spectacles. " I shall tell the emperor I
approve of all I have seen very much."

After this the impostors applied foi
money in advance and more gold and silken
thread, which they readily obtained, and
stowed away in a box. Then they con-
tinued their pretended work at the looms,
but not a single thread was used.

The emperor soon after ^sent another
statesman to see how the weaving was
going on, and to incpiire whether the stuif
would soon be ready. But it was exactly
the same with him as with the first. He

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES 301

almost made himself lialf ulind with
looking; but as there was nothing on
the looms, he could see notlri ng. '^ I am
not stupid," said the man to himself ; '' I

suppose, therefore, I am not fitted for my
situation. That, however, is a ridiculous
idea, but I must not say a word about it to
anyone." So he praised the tissue he could
not see. " It is really lovely," he said.

302 AI^DERSEK'S FAIRY TALES.

Everyone in the city talked about tlie
beautiful fabric, and then the emperor
expressed a \7ish to see for himself what
this wonderful stuff was like. He ap-
proached the looms at which the two artful
impostors were working with all their
might, although there was not a single
thi'ead on the looms. ^' How is this ?" said
the emperor to himself. '^ I can see nothing ;
this is really dreadful. Am I stupid ? Am
I, as emperor, unfit for my position ? It
would be the most dreadful thing if that
could happen to me. Oh, really, it is very
beautiful," he said, aloud ; " it merits my
highest approval."

The whole suite who Avere witli him
looked, and looked, and could make no
more of it than the others, but they said
after the emperor : " Yes, it is very pretty."
They advised him to wear the magnificent
dress for the first time in the great pro-
cession which was about to take place.

The whole night through, before tke
day when the procession was to take place,
the two swindlers were up and stirring.
They had lighted sixteen candles, and all

AJSTDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, 303

tlie townspeople could see how hard, tliey
were working to finish tlie emperor's new
clothes. They pretended to take the cloth
down from the looms, they cut with great
scissors in the air, they sewed with needles
which had no thread in them, and at last
they said : " The clothes are ready." The
emperor came himself with his most dis-
tinguished nobles ; and the swindlers lifted
up one arm high in the air as if they were
holding something, and said: "Look! here
are the trousers, here is the coat, here is
the mantle!" and so on. "It is as light-
and fine as cobweb ; one would think one
had nothing on, but that is just the beauty
of it ! May it please your imperial
majesty graciously to take off your
clothes," said the swindlers, " and we will
put on your new ones here before the large
Ijiirror."

The emperor took off all his clothes, and
the swindlers pretended to put on each
separate article of the newly-finished suit,
while the emperor twisted and twirled
about before the mirror. " How beautifully
they fit ! " exclaimed everybody. " What

304 JNDJEBSUJST'S FAIRY TALES.

a splendid fit ! What a pattern, and wliat
colors ! ! "

"They are waiting outside with the
canopy which is to be held over your
majesty in the procession," announced the
master of the ceremonies. " I am ready ! "
said the emperor. '' Doesn't it iit well ? "
and then he turned once more to the look-
ing-glass, as if he were carefully examining
his new costume. The chamberlains who
were to bear his train })retended to lift up
something from the iloor. So the empei'or
walked in procession under the splendid
cano})y, and all the crowd, in the street and
at the windows, exclaimed : " Look how
incomparably beautiful the empei'or's new
clothes are ! What a train he has ! and
ow extremely well they fit." No one
would allow it for a moment that he could
see nothing at all, for then he must either
be considered stupid or unfit for his office.
" But he has nothing on !" cried a little child
at last. " Just listen to this little innocent,''
said its father; and one whispered to an-
other what the child had said. " But he has
nothing on !" shouted all the people at last.

AKDERSEJST'S FAIRY TALES. 305

" Look at tlie emperor with no clothes on !
How ridiculous he appears !"

The emperor began to think the people
were right, but he said to himself : " I must
go through the procession, just as though
I had."

So the pages still ]3retended to carry the
emperor's train, although they knew there
was no train to carry. And the emperor
marched along to the end as though he was
wonderfully dressed.

306 AN-DURSEJ^'S FAIRY TALES,

Soup from a Sausage Skewer,

The mountain-king gave a great feast,
and of course all tlie lady-mice of the best
families were invited. As a matter of
course, too, tliey criticised every disli, be-
ginning with the soup. " It is like soup
from a sausage skewer," said one, which
was a very good joke. At least, the lady-
mice thought so, for they nodded and
squeaked and whispered it about, till the
monse-king heard it. He had often heard
people mention "soup from a sausage
skewer," and he resolved now to find out
what it was. So he gave out that the lady

ANDJEESEI^'S FAIRY TALES. 307

wlio should iind out liow to make it should
be queen, and they should have a year and
a day to hnd it out.

The lady-mice all wished to be queen,
but only four were willing to leave their
homes and travel about the world to learn
the secret.

At last the time was expired, and the
king sat in his council chamber to hear the
reports of the travelers. The first one said :

" I traveled away to the north in a big
ship. I staid in the pantry, hoping that the
cook could tell me, for I often heard him
speak of soup from a sausage skewer ; but
though he made many nice things he never
attempted to make that. At last I landed
and journeyed away from the sea-coast,
till I came to some lads and lassies dancing
round a May -pole, and I stopped to rest
and look at them, holding my sausage
skewer tight in my mouth. All at once I
saw the most charming little people coming
toward me. They called themselves elves,
and one of them pointed to the sausage
skewer and said : ' That is just what we
want.'

308 ANDERSEN'S FAIBY TALES,

^' I tliouglit perhaps tliey wanted to make
soup of it, so I lent it to tliem. They set
it up iu the middle of the green, and de-
corated it so beautifully that it was quite
dazzling to look at, and all by waving their
little wands. Theu I heard the most
beautiful music, like the tinkling of bells,
the song: of bii'ds and the lauo^hter of chil-
dren. In a little while they all vanished
but six, who brought me my skewer as bare
as it was before. I told them my story
and begged them to tell me how to make
soup from the sausage skewer.

" Then the elf dipped his finger into the
the cup of \dolet, and said to me, ^ Look
here ; I will anoint your pilgrim's staff, so
that when you return to your own home
and enter the king's castle, you have only
to touch the king with your staff', and
violets will spring forth and cover the whole
of it, even in the coldest Avinter time ; so I
think I have given you really something to
carry home, and a Ittle more than some-
thing.' "

But before the Itlle mouse explained
V*' Lai tLi^ ^>>eik-n«riore was, she stretched

ANDERSEN'S FAIllY TALES. 309

lier staff out to tlie king, and as it touched
him the most beautiful bunch of violets

sprang forth and filled the place with their
perfume. The smell was so powerful that

Sio ANDERSEK'S FAIRY TALES,

the mouse-king ordered the mice who stood
nearest the chimney to thrust their tails
into the fire, that there mic^ht be a smell of
burning, for the perfume of the violets was
overpo^vering, and not the sort of scent that
every one liked.

The second mouse said : " I w^as born in
alil^i'ary and by much nil)l)ling at books I
had learned the saying that ' poets can make
soup out of a sausage skewer,' so I traveled
toward the west to learn how to be a poet.
I had found out from another book the say-
ing : ^ Go to the ant and learn wisdom,' and
I traveled till I came to a great ant hill.
The ants are very Avise, and the queen ant
is the wisest of all. She said the ant hill
was the loftiest thing in the Avorld, although
close by it was a tree which w^as so high
that none of them could see the top. One
day an ant climbed up it so far that he got
h)st and could not find his way back for a
Avhole day. When, at last, he got back and
told them the tree was higher than the ant
hill the queen had him put to death at once.
Oh, the ants are veiy wise, and the queen
was so wise that I ate her up. Then I

ANDERSEK'S FAIRY TALES, 311

f~ — — ■ —

climbed the tree and the dryad gave me a
feather from Phantaesiis, which I nibbled at
until I had eaten it all and became a poet,

and here I am. I can give yon poetry on the
skewer, as much as you like."

'' And is that all ?" asked the king.

"That is all," said she.

812 A]SrDERSJEN'\S FAIEY TALES.

" Then we will hear from the next mouse,''
said the king:.

The fourth mouse came in next. She
had just ai'rived, and was so afraid that
she was late that she rushed in ahead of
lier turn. ''I went off," said she, ^'to the
largest town, and found myself in the house
of the gaol keeper. They had just brought
in a prisoner, and the keeper said he had
been talking too much, and he couldn't make
it out. ' It was like making soup from a saus-
age skewer,' he said, '■ but it might cost him
his life.' I became interested in the pris-
oner at once, and found him in his cell. We
soon became friends, but one day they came
and took him away. He kissed his hand
to me with tears in his eyes, but he never
came back. The keeper caught me and put
me in a cage, but his little girl let me go.

"I hastened away, and visited an owl
who lived with her young in the top of
the tower. She said it was only a saying
among men, and was understood in many
Avays. That was the truth about it, she
said, and truth Avas worth moi'e than all
the soup in the world.

ANDbJlt^h;]^ !S J^'AJHY TAL1£!S. 313

They were all taken aback at this, but
ill rushed the third mouse, saying: ^'I
know how to make soup from a sausage
skewer, and will do it. Will you now
set the kettle on the fire — so? IS^ow pour
the water on — quite full ; place it on the
fire; make up a good blaze that the water
may boil; it must boil over and over.
There, now I tln^ow in the skewer. Will
the mouse-king be pleased now to dip his
tail into the boiling water and stir it round ?
The longer the king stirs it, the stronger
the soup will become. Nothing more is
necessary, only to stir it."

" Can no one else do this ?" asked the king.

'' No," said the mouse ; ^^ only in the tail
of the mouse-king is this power contained."

And the water boiled and bubbled, as
the mouse-kino: stood close beside the kettle.
It seemed rather a dangerous performance ;
but he turned round and put in his tail.

But the mouse-king's tail had only
just touched the hot steam, when he sprang
away from the chimney in a great huny,
exclaiming: "Oh, certainly, by all means,
you must be my rpieen."

314 AJSrnERSEN''S FAIRY TALES

The Two Lovers.

A hummijS^g-top aud a Ixall were Ipng
together in a box of playthings, anci the
top said to the ball : '' Shall we not be
engaged to each other?" But the ball,
which was covered with morocco, and
thought as much of herself as any tine
lady could do, would not listen to such a
thin Of.

The next day came the little boy who
owned the playthings ; he j^ainted the top
red and yellow, and drove a brass nail
into the middle of it. It looked most
brilliant when it spun round. *^ Look at

ANDERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES. 315

ir^e," said tlie top to tlie ball ; "" shan't we
be eno^ao^ed ? AYe suit each other so ex-
actly ; you can leap and I can dance. No
one could possibly be happier than we
should be." " Indeed ! That is your opin-

ion," said the ball. "Yon are probably
not aware that my papa and mamma were
morocco slippers, and that I have a Spanish
cork in my body." " Well, I'm made of
mahogany," said the top. "The mayor
himself turned me ; he has a lathe of his

816 AKDEnSEl^S FAIRY TAtm.

own, and lie turned me just for liis amuse-
ment." " May I depend upon that V asked
the ball. " May I never be whipped if it's
false !" replied the top. " You know how
to plead your cause well," said the ball ;
^' but indeed I cannot ; I am as good as
engaged to a swallow. Every time I fly
uj) in the air he puts his head out of his
nest and says : ' Will you V And I have
said yes, in my own mind, so that it is as
good a% a half engagement. But I shall
never forget you." " Much good that will
do," said the top. And they did not speak
to each other again.

The next day the ball was taken out by
the little boy. The top watched it flying
high into the air like a bird, till it flew
ric^ht out of sig-ht. It came back airain
after awhile, but it gave a great bounce
every time it touched the earth. The ninth
time, however, the ball stayed away, and
did not come down again ; the little boy
looked and looked for it, but off it was.
" I know very well where she is," sighed
the top ; '' she is in the swallow's nest ; she
has married the swallow."

ANDERSEN'S FAIJRT TALES. 317

The more the top tliouglit of lier, the more
desperately in love he grew. He danced

about and spun round, but his thoughts
were always with the ball, who daily grew
fairer and fairer in his memory. Years

318 ANDERSEN'' S FAIRY TALES.

passed away, and now it was an old love.
The top himself was no longer young.
But behold ! one day he was gilt all over
— never had he looked so handsome before ;
he was a gold top now, an(J span till he
hummed again. This was something like.
But all at once he sprang up too high,
and off he was. They sought and sought
foi* him, even down into the cellar ; but he
was not to be found.

He had jumped right into the dust-bin,
among all kinds of things — cabbage-stalks,
and dirt that had fallen down from the
roof. ^' Well, this is a pretty situation. I
shall soon lose my fine gilding here. AVhat
a low set I have fallen among." He glanced
fui'tively at a long, leafless cabbage-stalk,
and at a queer-looking round thing, that
looked like an old apple. But it was no
apple ; it was a ball that had lain for years
in the roof-gutter, and been soaked through
and through.

^' Thank goodness, here comes one of my
own class, to whom I can speak," said the
ball. " I am really made of morocco ; and
I have a Spanish cork in my body, though

AN'DERSEJ^'S FAIRY TALES. 319

no one would think so to look at me now.
I was once on the point of marrying a
swallow, but I fell into the roof-gutter,
where I lay for five years, and was quite
soaked through.

But the top did not say a word. The
servant girl came up just then. " Hallo !
here is a gold top," cried she. And the
top came once more to honor and distinc-
tion, but nothing was ever heard of the
ball. The top never spoke of his old
flame aorain. When one has lain in the o^ut-
ter five years, no one cares to think of her.

820 ANDEESEI^'S FAIR Y TALES.

The Garden of
Paradise.

Theee was once a
king's son wlio had
more books than any
one else in the world.
He could read in them
about all that had

AJSTDERSEIST'S FAIRY TALES. 321

ever taken place since tlie creation, and
there were beautiful engravings. There
was not a place about which they had not
something to tell him — only they did not
say a single word about the Garden of
Paradise, and that was the very thing the
prince cared for more than all.

His grandmother had told him when he
was quite little, and was just going to be
sent to school, that every flower in the
Garden of Paradise was made of sweet
cakes, and their stamens filled with deli-
cious wine ; on one flower w is written
history, on another geography, or tables —
you had only to eat your cake and you
knew your lesson — the more cake you ate,
the more history, geography, and tables
you knew.

He believed it all then ; but as he grew
bigger and wiser, and knew more, he under-
stood that the glory of the Gai'den of Para-
dise must be a very different thing from
that.

One day he was walking alone through
the wood. Evening came on, and the
clouds threatened tempest. The rain

322 AKDERSEN'S FAIRY :. iLES.

poured down ; it was as dark as in the
deepest well by blackest night. Suddenly
he heard a strange sighing sound, and he
saw before him a large hollow cavern. In
the midst of the cave was a fire large
enough to roast a stag, and a stag was
actually roasting on a spit befoi'e it, its
splendid antlers turning slowly round be-
tween two mighty pine stems. An elderly
woman, tall, and broad-shouldered, sat by
the fireside, and threw one log after an-
other on to the blazing pile.

"" Come in," she cried.

'^ The fire draws well," said the prince.

'' It will draw better soon when my sons
come home," said the woman. " You are
in the cavern of the four winds, and my
sons are the four winds. Can you make it
out ?"

" Where are your sons ?" asked the prince.

" It is a difficult thing to answer a stupid
question,*' said the woman. " My sons act
for themselves ; they are playing at battle-
door and shuttlecock with the clouds up
yonder in the king's hall." And she
pointed to the sky.

ANDERSEN'S FAIR Y TALES 32 S

" Oil, indeed !" said the prince. " Yon
speak rather roiigUy, and do not seem
quite so gentle as the ladies I am accus-
tomed to meet."

"I daresay they've nothing to do. I'm

324 ANDERSEN-' S FAIRY TALES,

obliged to be rough, if 1 want to keep my
sons in order. I manage it tliougli, head-
strong as they are. Do you see this sack
hanging up by the wall ? I can manage
them, I promise you ; I clap them into the
sack without more ado, and there they are,
and can't get out again until I think fit.
But hei e comes one of them."

It was the north wind, who came in
bringing an icy chill. Great hailstones rat-
tled to the ground, and snowflakes floated
round him.

" Don't go too near the fire," cried the
prince; "your face and hands might be
frozen."

" Frozen !" said the north w^ind, with \
loud laugh ; " cold is my greatest enjoy-
ment. Why, Avhat dapper little fellow are
you ? How did you come into the cavern
of the winds ?"

" He is my guest," said the old woman,
and if that doesn't satisfy you, you can go
in the sack; do you hear that?"

That took effect; and the north wind
began to talk of all the places where he had
been in the last month. " I'm come from

A NDERSEN'S FAIR T TALES. 325

the Polar Seas," lie said ; ^^ I've been stay-
ing on Bear's Island witli the Russian
walrus hunters; I sat and slept at the
helm Avhen they sailed from the North
Cape ; and whenever I woke up, the
stormy petrel flew round my feet. The
hunting began then. The harjjoon was
plunged into the walrus, and the hot
blood-stream shot u^ high in the air, and
stained the snow. Then I thought of my
own sport. I blew away my fleet of tow-
ering icebergs, and they closed i-ound the
Russian whaler. How^ they whistled and
shouted — but I whistled loudest. Chests,
and tackle, and the dead walrus were
thrown overboard on to the ice; I show-
ered down snowflakes over them, and let
the ice-bound vessel and its spoil drift
southward, to taste salt water. They will
come no more to Bear's Island, I warrant
you !"

" Then you have done harm !" said the
mother of the winds.

^^ Other folk may tell the good I do,"
he answered. " But here comes my
brother from the west.'^

326 ANBJEJRSEN'S FAIBY TALES.

^' Is that the gentle Zephyr ?" asked the
prince.

" It certainly is the Zephyr ; but he is no
longer gentle. Years ago he was a pretty
boy ; but he has lost his good looks."

He looked a wild fellow euouo-h; he
wore a slouched hat to shade his face, and

carried a heavy mahogany club, cut from
an American forest.

" Where do you come from ?" said his
mother.

" From the backwoods," he answered,
" where the water-snake lies in the wet

<j:rass.

A NB:ERSEK' S fa IR Y tales. 327

Then came in the south wind, wearing a
turban and a flowing burnous.

"It's very cold here/' he said, throwing
more wood on to the fire ; " it's easy to see
that the north wind reached home first."

" It's hot enough to roast a polar bear,"
said the north wind.

" You're a polar bear yourself !" said his
brother.

" Do you want to go into the sack ?"
said the old woman. " Sit down on that
stone and give an account of yourself.'^

" I've been in Africa, mother," he an-
swered. ^* I've been lion-hunting with the
Hottentots in Caffreland."

Then came the east wind dressed like a
Chinaman. " Oh, you come from over there,
do you ?" said his mother; "I thought you
had been to the Garden of Paradise."

"I don't go there till to-morrow," said
the east wind — " to-morrow it will be a
hundred years since I was there before.
I am come straisrht from China where Tve
been dancing on the porcelain steeples till
the bells rang again. The government
oflficials were all bastinadoed in the streets.

328 AN^DURSUN'S FAIEY TALES.

tlie bamboo cane was broken over their
shoulders; and yet they were people of
the first to the ninth grade."

"Let us have some suj)per now," said
the mother of the winds. All sat down to
partake of the roast venison ; the prince
sat by the east wind, and they soon made
friends with each other. " Tell me," said
the prince, " what kind of a princess is the
one you talk so much about ? and where is
the Garden of Paradise ?"

'^ Oh, ho !" said the east wind, " do you
want to go there ? Come with me to-
morrow."

And all of them lay down to sleep.

Towards early dawn the prince awoke
and was not a little surprised to find him-
self high above the clouds. He was sitting
on the back of the east wind, who held
him tight ; and they were so high in the
air that the earth, with its woods and
plains, rivers and seas, lay below them like
a map ; and so they reached the Garden of
Paradise. It was a beautiful place, full of
flowers. Lions and tigers sprang nimbly
as cats over the green hedge-rows, fragrant

ANDERSEN'' S FAIRY TALES. 329

as the flowers of tlie ol ve tree, and both
lions and tigers were quite tame.

Then came up the fairy of the garden :
her dress glittered like the sun, and her
face was bright as the face of a happy
mother proud of her child. She was young
and beautiful ; and twelve fair maidens fol-
lowed her, each wearing a shining star in
her hair. She took the prince by the hand,
and led him into her palace, where the
walls glowed with the colors of a tulip leaf
when one holds it up against the sunlight.

"May I always stay here?" he asked.

" It depends upon yourself," said the
fairy. " If you are not enticed to do what
is f(jrbidden, as Adam was, you may."

" I will stay," said the prince.

"Now we begin our dances," said the
fairy. ''When I dance the last dance with
you, you will see me beckon you and hear
me say come with me, but do not listen."

The fairy led him into a hall of white,
transparent lilies. The loveliest maidens,
graceful and slender, their fair forms half
veiled in flowing drapery, circled in the
dance, and sang of the bliss of life.

330 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

The fairy beckoned him tenderly, and
cried, " Come with me." And the prince
forgot his promise, and I'ushed to her.

Then came a clap of thunder, louder
and more awful than can be heard on
earth. All fell in ruins round him by the
lovely fairy ; the fair, sweet garden sank
deep, deep into the gloomy night. The
prince saw it sinking down like a falling
star to the far, far distance. The cold of
death benumbed his limbs ; he closed his
eyes and lay unconscious. An icy cold
rain lashed his face, keen wind blew round
him, and his senses returned. " What
have I done?" he cried. "I, too, have
sinned as Adam sinned — and Paradise is
lost !" He opened his eyes ; a star that
shone like his lost Paradise was yet before
him in the heavens. It was the morning-
stai'.

He found himself close to the Cavern of
the Winds ; the mother of the Winds sat
by him ; she angrily laised her arm.

'' The very first night !" she cried. " I
thought as much ! If you were my son
you would go in the sack."

■^l^'^^^T^-^,^ ^„ ^ ^

SSf-^.,

332 ANDERSEN 'S FAIR Y TALES.

The Tinder
Box.

A SOLDIER went
marching by along
the road. '' Left,
right, left, right!"
He had his knap-
sack on his back,
and a sabre at his
side, for he was
coming home from the war.

tr/f^SFm^,/

ANDERSEJST'S FAIEY TALES. 833

On the liigli road lie met an old witch ;
she was very repulsive to look at; her
under lip hung down over her chin.
" Good evening, soldier," she said. "What
a fine sabre you have got ! and what a
large knapsack ! You are something like
a soldier, and you shall have as much
money as ever you like."

"Thank you, old mtch," said the sol-
dier.

" Do you see that tall tree yonder ?" said
the witch. " It is hollow inside. Climb
up to the top and you will see a hole
through which you can let yourself right
down into the tree. I will tie a rope round
you, so that I can pull you up when you
call to me."

" What am I to do when I am down in
the tree ?" the soldier asked.

"Fetch up money," said the witch.
" Belo^r the roots of the tree you will find
a large hall, lighted up Avith more than
three hundi'ed lamps. Then you will see
three doors ; open them all, the key is in
each lock. In the first room you will see
a large chest in the middle of the floor,

884 ANDERSElSrS FAIR Y TALES.

and on the chest a dog with eyes as big as
saucers. Don't mind him in the least.
Here is my blue-checked apron; spread
that out on the floor and put the dog upon
it, then open the chest and take out as
much copper as you like. If you prefer
silver you must go on into the next room.
But titers is a dog with eyes as big as mill-
wheels — you need not fear him, howevei'.
Put him on my apron and take out the
money. If you want gold, you can have
it, as much as ever you can carry, by going
into the third room ; but the dog on the
chest of gold has eyes as big as steeples —
he is a savage brute, you may take my
word for it. Never fear him, however;
put him on my apron, he won't hurt you,
and you can take as much gold as you will."

^' That doesn't sound amiss," said the
soldier. '' But what am I to give you for
it, old witch ? for I don't suppose you
mean to do it for nothing."

"I do," said the witch. ^^ I won't take
a penny All I ask is that you shall bring
me up an old tinder-box that my grand-
mother left the last time she was there."

A]SrnERSEI^'S FAIRY TALES. 335

'' Well, then," said the soldier, '' tie the
rope round my waist."

^' Here it is," said the Avitch, ''and here is
my blue-checked apron."

The soldier climbed up the tree, let him-
self down, and stood, as the witch had said,
in a great hall where hundreds of lamps
were burning. He opened the first door.
Ugh ! there sat the dog with eyes as big

336 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIET TALES.

as saucers, glaring at him. " You're a nice
fellow !" said the soldier, lifting him on to
the witch's apron.

Then he filled his pockets with copper,
shut the chest, and went into the next
room. Eight enough, there sat the dog
with eyes as big as mill-wheels.

^' You had better not stare so," said the
soldier ; " your eyes might come out of
your head altogether." He lifted the dog
on to the witch's apron and at the sight of
all the silver in the chest, he emptied his
pockets again and filled them and his
knapsack too with silver. Then he went
into the third room. That really was
awful ! The dog had eyes every inch as
big as towers, and they turned round and
round in his head like wheels.

'^ Good morning," said the soldier, touch-
ing his cap, for he had never seen such a
dog in his life. But after looking at him
more closely, he thought he had been civil
enough, so he placed him on the floor and
opened the chest. Good gracious, what a
quantity of gold there was ! enough to buy
all the suo-ar-sticks of the sweet-stuff

AN'DERSElSr^S FAIR T TALES, 337

women; all the tin-soldiers, whips, and
rocking-horses in the world, or even the
whole town itself. There was, indeed, an
immense quantity. So the soldier now
threw away all the silver money he had
taken, and filled his pockets and his knap-
sack with gold instead ; and not only his
pockets and his knapsack, but even his cap
and his boots, so that he could scarcely
walk.

He was really rich now ; so he replaced
the dog on the chest, closed the door, and
called up through the tree, " Now pull me
out, you old witch."

" Have you got the tinder-box V asJ^^d
the witch.

" No ; I declare I quite forgot it." So
he went back and fetched the tinder-box,
and then the witch drew him up out of the
tree, and he stood again in the high road,
with his pockets, his knapsack, his cap, and
his boots full of gold.

" What are you going to do with the
tinder-box V asked the soldier.

" That's no business of yours," said the
witch; "give me the box."

838 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES,

"• What's that you say ?" cried the sol-
dier. " Tell me this very minute ^diat you
want it for, or I'll draw my sword and cut
off your head."

" I won't !" said the ^^dtch.

The soldier immediately cut off her
head. There she lay. He tied up all his
money in her apron, slung it like a bundle
over his shoulder, put the tinder-box in his
pocket, and walked on towards the town.

It was a splendid town. The soldiei'
went into one of the best hotels, engaged

ARBERSER'S FAIR Y TALES. 339

the largest room, and ordered everything
he liked best for supper. He Avas rich
now, because he had so much money.

The man who blacked his boots thought
it was strange that such a rich gentleman
should wear such very old boots, but the
next day the soldier bought new ones,
and a new suit of clothes. He was not a
soldier now, but a fine gentleman ; and the
people spoke to him of all the remarkable
things in the town, of the king, and the
beautiful young princess, his daughter.

"Where can one see her?" asked the
soldier.

"You cannot see her," was the reply;
" she lives in a large brazen castle, sur-
rounded by walls and turrets. No one but
the king may enter, because it was once
prophesied that she would marry a common
soldier."

" I should like to look at her," said the
soldier ; but it was quite impossible for
him to obtain permission.

From this time he lived a merry life,
going to theatres, and driving about in the
royal parks and gardens. He gave away a

340 AXDERSEN'S FAIR Y TALES.

great deal to the poor^ and that was right
of him ; he knew of old what it is not to
have a shilling in one's pocket. Now he
was rich, wore fine clothes, and had num-
bers of friends, who all said he was an ex-
cellent fellow, and a perfect gentleman.
The soldier was pleased at that. But un-
luckily, as he went on spending money
every day, and never earning any more, he
found himself at last with scarcely any
left, and was obliged to leave his beautiful
rooms for a little garret under the roof,
where he had to black his own boots, and
mend them with a packing-needle. None
of his friends came to see him now— there
were too many steps to climb.

It was a dark night, and he could not
even buy himself a candle ; but it sud-
denly occurred to him that there was a
piece of candle left in the tinder-box which
he had fetched up for the old witch, out of
the hollow tree. He struck a light, and
the moment it flashed up, the door opened,
and in came the dog with eyes as big as
saucers. " What does my lord require ?"
said the dog.

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. ;M1

" AVhat is tliis ?" said the soldier. " This
is a lively sort of a tinder-box if I can get
whatever I like out of it ! Get me some
money," he said to the dog, and wliish ! off
he was — ivhish ! there he was back ag^in
with a bag full of copper, in his mouth.

Then the soldier began to see what a
famous box it was. You struck it once,
and up came the dog with eyes as big
as saucers ; you struck it twice, and up
came the one that sat on the chest of
silver; three times, and up came the one
that kept guard over the gold. The soldier
went down stairs again into his beautiful
rooms, and bought some more fine clothes.
Then all his friends knew him again
directly, and thought a great deal of him-.

After a while he began to think it was
very strange that no one could get a look
at the princess. '' Every one says she is
very beautiful," he thought to himself;
'' but what is the use of that if she is to be
shut up in a copper castle surrounded by
so many towers. Can I by any means get
to see her? Stop ! where is my tinder-
box V^ Then he struck a lig-ht. a,nd in a

342 ANBJEJBSBN'S FAIRY TALES,

moment the clog, witli eyes as big as tea-
cups, stood before him.

" It is midnight," said the soldier, " yet
I should very much like to see the prin-
cess, if only for one moment."

The dog disappeared instantly, and
before the soldier could even look round,
he returned with the princess. She was
lying on the dog's back asleep, and looked
so lovely, that every one who saw her
would know that she was a real princess.
The soldier could not help kissing her, true
soldier as he was. Then the dog ran back
with the princess ; but in the morning,
while at breakfast with the king and
queen, she told them what a singular dream
she had had during the night, of a dog and
a soldier, that she had ridden on the dog's
back, and had been kissed by the soldier.

^' That is a very pretty story, indeed,"
said the queen. So the next night one of
the old ladies of the court was set to
watch by the princess's bed, to discover
whether it really was a dream.

The soldier longed very much to see uie
princess once more, so he sent for the dog

ANJyJSBSBJSrS rAIR Y TAZBS. 343

again in the night to fetch her. But the
old lady put on water-boots, and ran after
him, and found that he carried the princess
into a large house. She thought it would

help her to remember the place if she made
a large cross on the door with a piece of
chalk. Then she went home to bed, and
the dog returned with the princess. But
Av^hen he saw that a cross had been made

344 AXJJUKSJiJJV'S FAIBY TALES.

on the door of the house whei'e the soldier
lived, he took another piece of chalk and
made crosses on all the doors of the town.

Early the next morning the king and
queen accompanied the old lady and all the
officers of the household, to see where the
princess had been.

"Here it is," said the king, when tuey
came to the first door ^vith a cross on it.

" And here is one, and there is another !"
they all exclaimed.

So they felt it would be useless to search
any farther. But the queen was a very
clever woman ; she could do a great deal
more than merely ride in a carriage. She
took her large gold scissors, cut a piece of
silk into squares, and made a neat little
bas:- This basr she filled Math flour, and
tied it round the princess's neck; and then
she cut a small hole in the bag, so that the
flour might be scattered on the ground as
the princess went along. During the night
the dog came again and carried the prin-
cess on his back, and ran with her to the
soldier, who loved her very much.

The dog never noticed the flour as it fell

AJSTDERSEK'S FAIRY TALES. 345

all along tlie road from tlie castle to the
soldier's room. The next morning the king
and queen saw clearly where their daughter
had been, and the soldier was immediately
arrested, and put in prison.

There he had to stop. It was dull and
gloomy enough, and all they said to him
was, " You will be hanged to-morrow !"
That was not exactly cheering, and his
tinder-box was left behind in his lodi^ins^s.
The next morning, through the bars of hi^
window, he saw a shoemaker's lad, in his
apron and slippers, who was running so
fast that one of his slippers fell off, and
flew right up against the window.

^' Hallo ! my lad," cried the soldier ;
'' just run to my lodgings, and fetch me
my tinder-box ; you shall have a shilling
for your trouble."

The lad thought he should like to earn
the shilling, so he fetched the tinder-box,

gave it to the soldier, and well, now

w^' shall hear.

The gallows was set up outside the
town, and round it stood the soldiers and
thousands of people. The king and queen

346 AJS^D^EHS^BVS FAIRY TALES.

sat on a splendid throne, opposite the
judges and council. The soldier mounted
the ladder, the rope was placed round his
neck, when he begged permission to smoke
a pipe of tobacco.

The king granted his request, and the
soldier struck his box — once, twice, thrice !
In a moment, up sprang the three dogs.

" Help me, so that I shall not be
hanged !" said the soldier. And the dogs
flew at the judges and the council.

That frightened the people to such a
degree, that they cried out, " Noble soldier !
you shall be our king, and marry the
princess."

7 y^K^^w^^^

A^^VI

AJSTDEESJEJ^'S FAIRY TALES. 347

Theke was a chil-
dren's party at the
rich merchant's; and
all the little guests
were the children of
wealthy and notable
people. The merchant was a scholarly
man himself; he had taken a degree at his
colleofe, and when he went into business he
prospered and grew very wealthy. His

348 ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES.

father had originally been a cattle dealer,
an honest and industrious man, and he had
o^iven his son a iirst-rate education and a
good start in life. The merchant was both
clever and good-hearted ; but people talked
much less about his heart than about his
money. Very aristocratic people visited at
his house: well-born people, as they are
called, clever people, those who were both
well-born and clever, and those who were
neither. This time it was a party of chil-
dren who were met together, and there
was plenty of children's prattle. Children,
as we all know, are very outspoken ; and
among the rest there was one lovely little
girl who had learned from the servants to
be extremely proud. Her parents were
well-bred, sensible people ; her father was
a chamberlain, and she knew very well
that that was something great.

" And those whose names end in ^ sen,' "
she said, ^^ they are never worth knowing ;
they are of no account at all."

" Yes ; but my father," said the daughter
of an author, '^ can put your father, and
everybody's father, in the newspaper! My

ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES, 349^

motlier says tliat everybody is afraid of
him, because he governs the newspaper."

And the little creature looked as proud
as if she had been a real princess.

But outside the door stood a poor boy
looking in through the chink. He was so
poor and mean that he dared not go into
the room. He had been turning the spit
for the cook in the kitchen, and she had
allowed him to stand behind the door and
look at the beautifully dressed children

^^^'^^-M^Mt^m^

850 AJSTDERSEN'S FAIR Y TALES.

who were enjoying themselves. It was a
great treat for liim.

" If I were only one of them !" he
thought to himself. He listened to their
conversation, and it made him very un-
happy, and no wonder. His father and
mother had not a penny to spare ; they
could not afford to buy a newspaper, much
less could they write in one. And then
came the worst of all ; his father's name,
and consequently his own name too, ended
in " sen ;" so that he was of no account ;
he could never come to any good. It was
very depressing ! And yet he thought he
was born as well as any one could be ; he
could not understand how *t was possible
to be born better.

That was what happened on that night
at the children's party.

Years passed away and turned the chil-
dren into grown-up men and women.

A sj)lendid house stood in the town,
filled with all kinds of rare and costly
treasures. People came to see it from far-
distant lands. To which of all the children
of whom we have been speaking did it

AI^DERSEN'iS FAIRY TALES. 851

belong ? Oh, that is very easy to guess.
No, it is not so easy. It belonged to the
poor boy who stood outside the door; he
had come to some good, although his name
ended in '' sen " — Thorwaldsen.

And the three other children, the well-
born, the rich, and the clever child ? Well,
the one had no reason to reproach the
other. They all became what Nature
meant them to be. As to what they said
and thougbt when they were little, it was
mere children's prattle.

INDEX TO CONTENTS.

Page

Angel, The 313

Anne Lisbeth 154

Bond of Friendship, The 333

Buckwheat, The 223

Chlld in the Grave, The 255

Children's Prattle 346

Daisy, The 71

Darning Needle, The 249

Drop of W a.ter. The 106

Elder-Tree Mother, The 228

Elfin Hill, 1 he iOl

Emperor's New Clothes, The 298

Fir Tree, The 160

Garden of Paradise, The 320

Goblin and the Huckster, The 206

Golden Swan, The 68

Grandmother 151

Ib and Little Christina 61

Ice Maiden, The 247

Jewish Maiden, The 189

Jumpers, The 1 87

Last Pearl, The 243

Life of Andersen 3

Little Claus and Big Glads 92

Little Ida's Flowers 217

Marsh King's Daughter, The 280

Mermaid, The 24

Mischievous Boy, The 211

Nightingale, The 125

Old Bachelor's Nightcap, The 139

Old Gravestone, The 193

Old House, The 234

Old Oak, The 17

Old Street Lamp, The 145

Ole-Luk-Oie 168

Soup from a Sausage Skewer 306

Storks, The 84

Story of a Mother, The 79

Story of the Year, The 54

Swineherd, The 200

Thick-Headed Jack 73

Thumbelin a 48

Tinder Box, The 332

Tin Soldier, The 119

Two Lovers, The 314

Ugly Duckling, The 108

Under the Willow Tree 174

What the Moon Saw 261

Wild Swans, The 85

■55;-^N>s\;^^*^^S^<

\^